What is Religion?

People have always tried to understand the mysteries of the natural forces that affect their lives. Religions have helped many people understand these areas of life. In doing so, religions have shaped the world and the way people live.

Faith and Worship

Religious faith consists of a belief in god or many gods, or sometimes a Great Spirit or invisible power that influence a person's life. Most religions have special places where people go to pray or a secret natural site.

The stories and guiding rules of most religion are contained in writing that are considered sacred.

Many religions are based on the existence of a single God. Other have several Gods. In Hindu religion for example, has has many forms. There are often guides to help people understand their religion. Religions often have festivals to remember events or to worship special gods. Most people have ideas on what happens after death. In many religions prayer is the most important part of worship.

Our Main Objectives and Policies:

SNGM is serving in the U.K from 1978 and is a registered charity bearing Reg no.281388 since 1980.

Our main objective is to propagate the teachings and principles of Sree Narayana Guru. In other words, to work for the betterment of humanity as a single community irrespective of religion, race, caste, creed, language or ethnic origin.

We are strictly following the Equal opportunity Policy which is a direct implication of the principles of Sree Narayana Guru.

Our membership is open to different one who is a resident of the U.K and who accepts and follows the values of the SNGM.

Our membership includes people from any religion, race, caste, linguistic background, etc..

Our Current Regular Activities:

1. Guru Dharma Propagation/Spiritual and moral Educational Services:

The moral and spiritual development is the basic requirement for the betterment of humanity.

1.1 Daily prayer meetings: At our Mission Centre(16, Barking Road, E6), first floor from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

1.2 Monthly prayer meetings at East Ham: First Sunday of each month. At our Mission Centre(16, Barking Road, E6), first floor - from 3.30pm to 4.00pm at first floor and then from 4.00pm to 5.30 pm on the ground floor Hall with lectures based on the Guru’s life and teachings and also introducing guest speakers on social and moral values for the betterment of humanity.

Light vegetarian refreshments are normally served at the end of this meetings. For advance booking to sponsor this prayer meetings can contact Guru Dharma sub-Committee chairperson.

1.3 Monthly Prayer meetings at Croydon: Second Sunday of each month. At Cornerstone House(CVA Hall), Wellis Road, Croydon CR0. From 3.30pm to 5.30 pm

1.4 Quarterly Prayer meetings at Southall: Once in three months, the dates are published in advance. Venue: Parish Church of Christ, 299, Allenby Road, Southall, Middx UB2.

2. Educational Services:

Tuition services are given at special concession rates aiming at the Guru’s principle of ‘Get enlighten through Education’.

2.1 Tuition classes at East Ham: At the Mission Centre

On Saturdays from 10am to 1pm
On Sundays from 10am to 2pm

Tuition classes up to GCSE level and also for A-level selected subjects.

2.2 Free Malayalam Mother tongue classes: At the Mission Centre.

On Saturdays from 11am to 12 noon.
On Sundays from 11am to 12 noon.

2.3 Tuition classes at Croydon: At the CVA Hall, Wellis Road, Croydon.

On Sundays from 10am

2.4 Free Malayalam Mother tongue classes: At the CVA Hall, Croydon.

On Sundays from 2pm

2.5 Awards for the best GCSE Student of the year: This award is presented based on the best result of the GCSE exam results to the children of our members.

3. Social Service Activities:

European Coach Tour every year during the Summer time.

Onam Sadhya: Traditional Kerala feast during mid August to mid September every year; conducted at Croydon and East Ham.

Children’s Party: Conducted at East Ham and Croydon every December

Christmas Celebration : During the weekend before Christmas, celebrating at the Mission Centre.

Food Tasting event: Every year during Winter time. This is a challenging competition and awards are presented to the winners.

4. Services for the Elderly:

Day Centre for the Elderly. At the Mission Centre. The Centre opens daily from 10 am to 12.30pm and from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Facilities include free library service, reading Malayalam news papers, magazines, light refreshments, Speicial Kerala style rice soup(with side dishes) on Tuesdays during lunch time, free view of Asianet and Kairali, indoor games of Snooker and chess, Social advice and information service, etc..

5. Arts and Cultural Activities:

Dance Classes for children Drama presentation. Six to eight hours cultural programmes every year during the Guru Jayanthi Celebration hiring a hall with a capacity of 500-800 audience, promoting artistic talents among children and adults. Also bring professional artists and celebrities from India.

6. Sports and Health Services:

Annual sports and family fun day will be conducted during the early Summer time and the prizes are awarded during the Guru Jayanthi Celebration.

Facilities for indoor games are used by teenagers and children.

Yoga classes at East Ham and Croydon

7. Hall lettings :

As a charitable service, the main hall of the Mission Centre is available for lettings at very reduced rate. Only vegetarian food and non-alcoholic drinks are allowed.

8. Other Charitable Services:

We help for natural disasters and calamities. We have recently raised funds for Tsunami relief and also we helped the blind in the past. We had raised the fund and donated for Gujarath Earthquake disaster as well as Orissa flood relief in the past. The most deserving assistance were also given on individual basis.

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Carnatic Music classes are run every weekend at the Mission at reduced fees and taught by Mr Sampath Kumaracharya MA (Music), the youngest of the famous “Hyderabad Brothers”. Children`s lessons are held from 4.30 to 5.30pm and Adult`s from 5.30 to 6.30pm  every Saturday. A batch of students has already achieved certificates from London School of Music after successfully completing their exams. This is also a first for SNGM. SNGM was the centre for the exams as children from all over London attended.
Bharatanatyam Classes: Bi-weekly classes of Bharatanatyam dance, consisting of a 1 hour session (3.00 – 4.00pm) for junior students and a 2 ½ hr session (4.00 – 6.00pm) for senior students on alternate Sundays are taught by Miss Ravina Krishnan, who was trained under the famous dance Gurus / institutions like Kerala Kalamandalam & Dhananjayans.
Christmas celebration: SNGM celebrated Christmas at its East Ham centre with variety of programmes including classical dance, Hindi filmic dance, Malayalam cinematic dance, mimicry, film song with mimicry background, Poetry recital, English pop song and host of other programmes. SNGM, President Dr Nirmaladevi Ravindran, secretary Mohanakumar and Rev Fr Chacko Panathara - chaplin of Brentwood addressed the audience and arts and culture chair person Manambur Suresh welcomed the audience, artists and guests.
Badminton Club: The SNGM badminton have been running successfully for past few years with as sharp increase in membership in the past year. This is currently held at Little Ilford School, Manor Park, E12, and at every Sunday between12pm and 2pm.. Annual membership fee for a family is £25 and single membership fee is £15. Entrance fee for a family is £2 and single entrance fee is £1.
The Day Centre: This takes place every Tuesday between the hours of 10am and 2 pm and is targeted at the elderly. There is a minimum attendance of 25 people every week, who take part in activities such as Malayalam reading group, chair based exercise, dietary lessons, health talks and health MOT checks. Again the Day Centre provides a healthy vegetarian meal to all those that attend.
Day trips: The Women’s Forum regularly arranges day trips to many interesting places.
Yoga Class: This has been designed to be used by anyone that is interested in taking up yoga. To accommodate those that work, these lessons are provided every Thursday evening between the hours of 6:30pm and 8pm. The fully trained instructors are provided by Newham Newcays Adult Education.
Computer Classes: This has been provided to educate the over 50’s. At present there are 2 classes that have been setup to run on Wednesdays. One class runs between 3.30pm and 4.30 and the next one between 4.30pm and 5.30pm. Due to the good response from people, we are presently looking at increasing the number of classes. A special thanks to Sreekumar B for handling the classes very efficiently.
Warm Centre: This programme is run in conjunction with Newham Council to provide a warm and welcoming haven to local residents aged 50 or over, during the winter months. This allows isolated elderly people to attend the SNGM and make new friends and participate in activities such as Tai Chi, head massage, exercise lessons, and fuel advice. Hot beverages, biscuits and a vegetarian lunch’s are provided to all those that attend.  Newham Council regularly send professionals to the Warm Centre to give health talks, demonstrations and advise to the elderly. Newham NHS Primary Care Trust organises many health seminars which is very beneficial for the community. Members of the Warm Centre have been invited to many functions such as, the Newham Mayor`s Christmas Party and Valentines Tea and Dance Party.
As the winter months are now over, we have moved into “Step in to Summer Program”. This program is again provided by Newham Council and members will be able to attend outings to the seaside, Kensington Palace and also St Georges Tea and Dance Party.
The Day Centre: This takes place every Tuesday between the hours of 10am and 2 pm and is targeted at the elderly. There is a minimum attendance of 25 people every week, who take part in activities such as Malayalam reading group, chair based exercise, dietary lessons, health talks and health MOT checks. Again the Day Centre provides a healthy vegetarian meal to all those that attend. The Women’s Forum regularly arranges day trips to many interesting places. A yoga class has been designed to be used by anyone that is interested in taking up yoga. To accommodate those that work, these lessons are provided every Thursday evening between the hours of 6:30pm and 8pm.
Women’s Forum. This is a service that has been designed and developed to aid the needs of the diverse community within the London Borough of Newham and neighbouring Borough’s. The Forum is an actively expanding area, with many participants from all walks of life taking part in our activities. The Forum is run every Monday between the hours of 10am and 2 pm.
The Forum provides a variety of programmes that encourages women aged 50 and over, to participate in a healthier lifestyle. We have taken a holistic approach to this and provide such things as exercise lessons, Thai Chi, dance lessons, health seminars, and health checkups. There are a minimum of 35 women that attend every Monday and the Forum also provides a healthy vegetarian lunch to all.
Youth Forum: The future of the SNGM very much rests in the hands of the youth of today who ultimately will be the members of the future. We desperately need an injection of new blood, enthusiasm and the tremendous pool of talent from the youngsters. The SNGM Youth Forum was thus encouraged to start again this year with a fresh look at the needs of the youth in our community.
One of the main objectives this time round was for us to have a better understanding about what we need to do to attract and encourage youth involvement in the Mission moving forward. From the feedback we were able to formulate a vision...
“Through continual involvement and development of our youth we will produce a new generation of capable and cultured members in our community to preserve The Mission’s values, principles and heritage, and strive to promote truth, compassion, equality and righteousness (Guru Dharma) for the benefit of all in our community by 2020.”
Missions’ objectives for the future of the Youth Group are

1.  Survival of Mission/future human resource
2. Preserve and promote Guru Dharma/Guru’s principles
3. New Generation for succession planning
4. Adapt Mission to meet future member needs
5. New ideas to improve and streamline processes
6. Keep up to date with regulatory and legal changes
7. Bring in Positive Changes
8. New visionary leaders with new workable strategies
9. Progress and Expand the Missions activities
10. Continually reviewing Progress and processes
11. Drive Activity and Planning for future
12. Serving the community through charitable deeds.

The key areas of focus on the youth group will include:

1. Sport’s Activities
2. Happy Environment to interact with peers
3. Educational assistance
4. Competition/Debates
5. Charity Work in the community
6. Work Experience
7. Self Development

Chathayam celebrations of 2008 saw an unprecedented display of passion, commitment and energy for involvement by the youth forum members. Participants were forthcoming with a variety of artistic programmes, speeches, and voluntary help and were instrumental in encouraging peers to join the SNGMYF.
The way forward for the Mission now will be to adopt an even greater focus on the matters relating to needs of non voting members  under 18 and the needs of young adults over 18 through facilitation of working committees to capitalize and to mobilise the overwhelming enthusiasm and talent available at our disposal.  We also must remain un-blinkered to the needs and involvement of youth in Croydon and Southall too in order to absolutely maximise the youth potential in the Mission. The fusion of ideas across the three centres and the creation of a team environment will rapidly progress the Mission over the coming years. Together we really can build and maintain the Mission as a first class institution that care for all in the community.