Hinduja Foundation

Hinduja Foundation - UK

Like the Hinduja Foundation in India, in the UK its activities focus on education, healthcare, interfaith understanding and the arts.

The Hinduja Foundation in the UK has been operating for over thirty years during which time it had managed the Hinduja Cambridge Trust scholarship scheme for Asian students studying at the University of Cambridge, established Dharam Hinduja Indic Research Centre at Cambridge University's Faculty of Divinity, contributed to the UK's celebration of the new Millennium with the Faith Zone at the Millennium Dome, and supported the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Healthcare

Over the years in the UK, the Foundation has made donations to a number of healthcare charities, notably the Stroke Association, the Elton John Aids Foundation, Concerned for Mental Health, Clic Sergeant Cancer charity, the British Cardiac Research Trust and in 2015 King's College London's new Cancer Centre.

Furthermore, support has also been given to UK registered charities in healthcare operating outside the UK, notably the Leprosy Mission with the late Princess of Wales and its work in India and the Lebanese charity Give a Child a Toy which works to provide life-saving operations, the purchase of vital medical equipment, and the provision of essentials for various orphanages and children centres in Lebanon

Education

University of Cambridge

Hinduja Cambridge Trust Scholarship scheme

Dating back to 1991 when the Trust was established until 2009 it had funded over 300 Indian students and their postgraduate studies at Cambridge.
Dharam Hinduja Institutes for Indic Research

Based at Cambridge University, Columbia University in the USA and India these centres, named in memory of Dharam S Hinduja, were dedicated to the research and study of the benefits of Indic knowledge, including yoga and Ayurveda, and seeking modern applications for this knowledge. At Cambridge University, the centre ran for ten years, closing in 2004.

Furthermore, a contribution was made the University College London (UCL) to their Professor Sir Malcom Grant Scholarship Fund, established following the retirement of its Provost, Professor Malcolm Grant.

Duke of Edinburgh's Award - 2005

The Hinduja Foundation signed an agreement to support the Duke of Edinburgh's Award for five years to 2010 and its activities and commitment to help young people and the personal development. The Hinduja Foundation's commitment will also help engage the Asian community into the Award's activities. Most recently, the Hinduja family welcomed its Chairman of Trustees, His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex to Mumbai.

Donations have also been made to schools for scholarships, science laboratories and music school such as the Swaminarayan Hindu Mission School, where over many years the Foundation has funded scholarships for secondary school children attending the school.

Over the years, the Foundation has also collaborated with a number of HRH The Prince of Wales's charities including the Prince's Trust, the British Asian Trust and the Prince's Regeneration Trust.

The British Asian Trust works in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka supporting projects dedicated to eradicating exploitation, supporting business enterprise, education and training and health and well-being. In 2018, to celebrate the Trust's tenth anniversary, the Hinduja family and Foundation became a member of the Trust's 'Founders' Circle'.
Meanwhile, the Prince's Trust supports 13 to 30 year olds who are unemployed and those struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. The charity gives young people the practical and financial support to stabilise their lives and help develop key skills, confidence and motivation, and so enable young people to move into work, education or training.
The Prince's Regeneration Trust supports projects to preserve historic buildings and landmarks working with community groups, building owners, local authorities and other public bodies as an advisor, enabler, fundraiser and advocate.

Interfaith Understanding

Over many years the Foundation continues to support the work of a number of Hindu temples and organisations including the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Temple and the Hare Krishna ISKCON temples in London.

Most recently, the Foundation has committed to ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor and their new Haveli construction project. The Haveli is the house that will forever sing out the glories and teachings of Shree Krishna, passing culture, traditions and the life of bhakti to each new generation.
Significantly the Foundation donated to the Shri Venkateswara Balaji Temple in Birmingham which also received Millennium Commission funding at the time of the new Millennium. GP Hinduja had been a trustee of the temple for many years and SP Hinduja is a patron. The temple works tirelessly for the Asian community in Birmingham and also builds contacts with other faiths – in November 2008 the temple hosted an official visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Celebrating the Millennium: The Hinduja Foundation lent its support to the British Government landmark project for the new millennium, the Millennium Dome at Greenwich, where the Hinduja Foundation pledged to underwrite the 'Faith Zone'. Generating cross community support, the Hinduja Foundation's final commitment was £1 million.
Furthermore the Foundation works hard to support the Sindhi community in the UK, including the Sindhi Association UK, the Sindhi Nari Sabha and the Sadhu Vaswani Mission hosting a number of talks by Dada JP Vaswani in London, most recently in 2017 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on Parliament Square.

Arts and Culture

The Hinduja Foundation plays an active role in promoting cultural exchanges between the east and west, with the aim to further multicultural understanding between different peoples. In this regard the Foundation has contributed to a number of projects including

'Theorama': Commissioned the legendary Indian painter, M F Hussain, to create a series of paintings titled "Theorama" on the world's great religions. Two paintings from this series were exhibited at the UN Headquarters in October 1995 on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. In 1999, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair adopted the Theorama series as his own pledge for a better and more peaceful world in the new Millennium. The idea of Theorama had in its own discreet and quiet way caught the imagination of the world. Theorama is not about any religion. It is about knowledge, wisdom and faith.
The Hinduja Foundation has for a number of years supported the Tate Foundation and their South Asian Acquisition Committee.
Further donations have been made to the Nehru Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Asia House, the Persia Exhibition with BP plc and the Iran Heritage Foundation at the British Museum (2005), and the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Philanthropy in India

The Foundation in the UK also supports a number of UK charities working in India including:

The Loomba Foundation

The Loomba Foundation, established by Lord (Raj) Loomba's helps widows and their children with the education by equipping widows with sewing machines to allow them to be trained and then earn a living. Money is given into a bank account directly to the widows, who are carefully monitored to give them funds for training and sending their children to school.

Concerned For Mental Health

GP Hinduja is Patron of Concerned for Mental Health charity and over a number of years the Hinduja Foundation has supported its work. Mental Health, often not recognised in India is serious – in May 2016, the British Medical Journal, estimated that one third of the world's mental health patients are in China and India, while less than one in ten patients suffering from mental disorders like anxiety, depression, dementia, epilepsy and substance use disorders receive any form of specialised help or treatment in India.

Furthermore, Rita Chhabria's Mukul Madhav Foundation has been working with Lady Hameed's charity – most recently in mid-November 2016 Concerned for Mental Health brought together a team of professionals and students from various institutes and hospitals for a three-day work shop in Pune.

The Lily Foundation

Back in September 2015, the Hinduja Foundation UK donated to Lady Mohini Noon's Lily Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting the victims of child trafficking in India.

Lady Noon's charity works with partner organisations in India, notably the following:

Stop India in Delhi project works in the Bwana slum in Delhi reaching out to 35,000 people and providing education to the slum's children. Furthermore, STOP INDIA works on a resettlement programme.
Arz Goa provides financial assistance to help trafficking victims learn to become entrepreneurs. 'SwiftWash', a laundry service company is the most recent example. ARZ GOA also repatriates victims to their home states in India, as well as Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Russia and East Europe.

Akshaya Patra Foundation UK

Back in 2015 the Hinduja Foundation supported a charity art auction, in aid of Akshaya Patra. Since 2000, the Akshaya Patra Foundation has worked to improve the lives of children born into poverty. Their Food for Education Programme is the world's largest non-profit school lunch scheme. Every day over 1.5 million children across India are fed a hot, nourishing school lunch which encourages them to come and stay in school, and so ensure that they remain healthy, grow and concentrate and learn in class. It is often the only proper meal they will receive that day.

Other organisations receiving Hinduja Foundation support include the following:

Plan International
Age UK
Women's India Association UK
Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Saba

Europe and Africa

In Europe the Foundation made a total one million Euro commitment to become a founding patron of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, whose activities concentrate on climate change and global warming.

Meanwhile, in Africa, the Foundation lent its financial support to the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, established by the former President of Nigeria, which aims to tackle four critical areas of human security including food and nutrition, economic security and empowerment, gender equality and health security.