Mrs. Bibi Balwant Kaur Soor
Mata Nanaki Foundation is a UK based Charity, registration pending. It is sister organisation Mata Nanaki Foundation Society is a Registered Charity in India. Registration No. 06142573.It was founded by late Mrs. Bibi Balwant Kaur Soor MBE.
The charity has been doing public service in UK where it supports Air Ambulance, Scargill Homes, Bebe Nanki Gurdwara Sikh Temple by providing Punjabi classes and BNG Foot Ball Club, and helping Sikh ladies in need of help.It has supported International Relief funds from time to time such as drought in Ethiopia by providing plane load of food, clothes and build wells.In India we have built a Hospital known as Mata Nanki Charitable Hospital in rural area of Punjab.
We also operate and maintain a Sikh Gurdwara with a Nursery School known as Bibi Balwant Kaur Memorial School. We also provide Computer, Sewing and music classes. Every year we organise Athletics, help poor people by organising their weddings and provide all the necessary material and goods to enable the newly wedded to set up home.
Our funds are raised by ladies singing Hymns at peoples’ homes ( Sat Sungs) all offerings and donations are used for the charitable work a tradition started by the founder in Nairobi, Kenya in 1947. The founder was well respected by the people of Kenya, India and UK with honour s bestowed on her by the President of Kenya Arap Moyee, The help the aged by a presentation of Gold Award, and by the British Government by making her a Member of British Empire.
At Anandpur Sahib, Mata Nanki Charitable Hospital this year alone we provided medical help to over 2000 patients and replaced 200 eye lenses and as many again had their cataracts removed.
All our office holders and members do this work on voluntary bases, they do not even ask for expenses. They would go to India or any other place using their own funds, so we are fortunate in this respect. They do this in respect and reverence to our founder late Mrs. Balwant Kaur Soor MBE known as Bibi Jee.
FUNDS:
The Charity organises Akhand Paaths at people’s houses and at Sikh Gurdwara, Akhand Paath is a continuous recitation of Guru Granth Sahib, Sikh scriptures that takes 48 hours. During this period the house hold invite guests and neighbours, family and any outsider who may want to come during this period free food is distributed and people would come and offer their offering to the Guru Granth Sahib bow their head in reverence and then listen to Gurbani for as long as like. Partake in the food and socialise at the same time. The family members would donate larger sums of money and also pay the readers who in our case are our members and they give all the money paid to the charity. This way we can raise as much as two to three thousand pounds per akhand path. We manage to do seven to eight Akhand Paaths per year. Apart from these we also conduct weekly sat sungs where people come and sing hymns for an hour or two followed by dinner and social chit chat. These events would normally help raise between two hundred and five hundred pounds.
Our younger members do sponsored walks and some ladies cook Samosas and other food for functions to raise money. The young ladies get gifts of clothes at weddings that they do not wear in UK. These they donate to us and we take these to India where we give them to young brides whose weddings we organise. Last year our income was in excess of £35000.00 some of this came from Kenya, Canada and USA.
OBJECTIVES :
The Charity is to help where ever there is need, but we have special interest in Punjab because most of our members roots are in Punjab and being Sikh they want us to concentrate on this area. Having said that we are supporting all mankind irrespective of their religious belief in the true spirit of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh’s directive’ Treat all human kind as one’. We have supported Islamic Relief, Christian Charities and distribute books and school uniforms to schools in the vicinity of Bebe Nanki Gurdwara, Sultanpur.