Welcome to our October 2021 NewsletterThe last year has been an extraordinary one for the world with so many people desperately needing our help. And we have stepped up. In doing so we have crossed the £1 million milestone of money deployed to the deprived, changing thousands of lives around the globe.There have been several appeals and fundraisers as we kept up with the need of the hour during a tumultuous year.Aleem, a generous, warm, wonderful affiliate of OKA, husband of associate Reeta, tragically succumbed to Covid too young. An appeal in his memory raised almost £30,000 to educate children in India – a testament to how much he was loved and respected. His spirit lives on though dozens of children given hope and opportunity where they had none. We miss him.Young couple, Karun and Aditi ran a staggering 100km to raise money to tackle food poverty in UK at a time when so many were struggling to put food on their families’ table.OKA associate Reeta bravely ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon with Arti Andrade, Rupal Patel, Rajan, Raj, Satta, Taz, Poonam Sethi and Elliot Lyons, whose impressive joint fundraising went towards an incentives-driven project in India to vaccinate rural communities who face vaccine hesitancy.Additional appeals were made to feed the poor through London Community Kitchen, to send help to India during their terrible Covid wave and to support Afghan refugees.Alisha Malhotra set up the Bright Start Scholarship Programme, which has surpassed all expectations. So far 59 intelligent, hard- working students from poor backgrounds in India have been identified and will be educated from age 15 through college until they get a job. These are children of rickshaw drivers, daily wage labourers, street cleaners – those on the lowest rung of income and society who cannot afford school fees. For just £1500, a child is lifted out of the circle of lack of education and poverty and given the opportunity to pull up their families and their communities. The impact of this programme simply cannot be underestimated.Fun Times 🎉The annual OKA garden party returned with a bang after a Covid break. Tickets sold out almost immediately. Post lockdown euphoria was infectious and in abundance. Guests could not get enough of dancing, mingling, drinking and eating on the sprawling lawns under a summer sky until darkness set in. The generosity surpassed previous years with almost £65,000 raised.We are proud of our figures 💰Almost £415,000 was given out this year to wide and varied Causes.We’ve helped…Build and transform run-down schools in India and Africa by providing:Upgraded toilet facilitiesSmart technology in classroomsClean drinking water through rainwater harvestingProvide dialysis treatment to the poor in IndiaContinue support running costs at the Rehab centre for underprivileged victims of brain injury In IndiaRoll-out vaccinations in rural IndiaProcure Cooking Stations for use by children and adults as part of a school Good Nutrition Educational ProgrammeFurnish a garden for vulnerable teens in SloughEducate and nourish the young here in the UK and in rural IndiaSupport and fed the village elderly in IndiaFeed those struggling through the pandemic in UKOur due diligence remains rigorous and meticulous so that every £ brings maximum impact possible. As such we have been able to support so many projects, communities and individuals with your donations.New Liaisons 😀As our work expands, we looked to deepen associations with 2 new charity partners to ensure greater efficiency on certain projects.We raised money for the Covid crisis in India and with The British Asian Trust bought and delivered much-needed Oxygen concentrators as well as supported families of those who had lost their main breadwinner.Yuva International, an incredible charity recognised by the government of India for its effective, practical solutions to poverty are working with us on many fronts including the Bright Start Scholarship Programme, transforming government schools and making vaccines more accessible in rural areas.New Sponsor Partners 🤝On the fundraising front, we have been in a mutual courtship with very different but dynamic companies, which resulted in them becoming our sponsor partners. They were impressed with our integrity, effectiveness and impact. We loved their intention to improve the world, their generosity and their values.The Prideview Group, a successful, fast-growing property investment consultancy has raised over £100,000 to date for us which has made a worthy impact in the realms of UK food poverty and in education and life-saving medical support to poor children abroad. We look forward to a partnership that grows every year.Calcot Services for Children, an initiative providing care and education to vulnerable youngsters have been recognised and awarded by Ofsted, families and external agencies for their powerful impact on the young. They have raised money for various projects of ours that provide Covid support and improved education and nutrition to children that span Sri Lanka, India, Africa and UK. We are deeply grateful to have them as our partners.Pyramid Pharmacy, a successful, family-run group of retail pharmacies owned by the Bhogal family were our earliest sponsors and have formally gone into a partnership with us. As a family, they host our annual flagship event, the OKA Garden Party, which has facilitated fundraising of just under £130,000 to date for One Kind Act. This has enabled building houses in Sierra Leone, feeding the homeless in the UK to sheltering, educating and providing hygiene and clean drinking water to poor children in India and Africa. We are delighted to have their continued commitment through our new partnership.We are honoured and thrilled to announce our newest sponsor partner, The Brinda Jaykant Shah Foundation. Having arrived penniless from East Africa, the family found success and wealth through their hard work, intelligence and integrity. The nobility and generosity of their ethos meant they always strived to pull others up with them, donating generously to varied causes through the years. Their support for One Kind Act will facilitate the building of a new school in their ancestral village of Mokshi, Gujurat and new constructions at a school in Marurani, Tanzania where they grew up. They aim to leave a legacy of hope, joy, opportunity and betterment to mankind. We feel privileged to be part of their humanitarianism.Become a Sponsor Partner 👍If you would like your company to generate a positive social impact and give your business the edge over competitors, consider becoming a Sponsor or a Sponsor Partner. We will market you on our website and social media channels, acknowledge publicly your support at large events, give you priority access to big events and exclusive networking dinners.As a Sponsor Partner, we will additionally give you a fundraising platform, full logistical support at your fundraisers, comprehensive advice on projects to guide you on where money can be deployed in accordance with your values.Let’s get together!For any other information on what One Kind Act do, please visit our website http://www.onekindact.org. If you like what you see, please DONATE.We offer our sincere thanks for your continued support. ❣️Kind RegardsOne Kind Act Team

Reflecting on 2020 2020 proved to be a year never to be forgotten! It was a year of pain, of hardship and of untold grief for so many. For others, it was a time for reflection and introspection, time to reset certain life patterns and most importantly of all, a time which displayed humanity at its best, that of the selfless show of kindness we felt for one another. It is this very sense of community kindness that has made 2020 one to remember for One Kind Act. The resounding success of our Child of Mine Ball in Dec 2019, the continuing generous support of our followers through donations and fundraising efforts (especially that of the youngsters) and that of our loyal Sponsors and the invaluable bonding of new charity partnerships has meant that One Kind Act have achieved more than we could have hoped for in such a difficult year. It has meant that the TOTAL FUNDS RAISED IN 2020 WAS JUST UNDER £145K. You will see we have been able to continue to reach out to worthy Causes in India & Africa, comprising £150K of our grants. The remaining £100K of grants has been in our response to the COVID crisis here in the UK. Never before have we witnessed the courage and selflessness that some local charities such as LCK, OFFL & SWAT have shown in tackling food poverty amongst the poor, vulnerable and the homeless. We SALUTE all such charities for the dedication they have shown in 2020. A Bright Start to 2021 We have hope for 2021. And this first ray of hope has been inspired by no other than Alisha Malhotra, our Chairman’s daughter. Five years ago, after suffering a stroke, Alisha had to put her teaching career on hold. The work she did empowered children to stand on their own two feet. Five years on, she’s returning to education. In partnership with One Kind Act and Yuva Unstoppable, by launching Bright Start - An Educational Scholarship Programme to help some of the brightest but most marginalised children in India. Learn more about the Bright Start Scholarship Programme here For any other information on what One Kind Act do, please visit our website www.onekindact.org. If you like what you see, please DONATE. We offer our sincere thanks for your continued support. Team One Kind Act One Kind Act is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 1160116)

        Welcome to our Newsletter.  We hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. These unprecedented times of the pandemic present a whole new scale of challenges across society. It has been a peaceful, restful time for some, a time to pause and reflect. For many, however, it has been a time of immense hardship, struggle and deprivation.    OUR IMPACT   It is advisable to sometimes analyse and evaluate a journey, looking back to see how far one has come, what lessons were learnt along the way and what the path ahead entails.   As such we took the opportunity to look back, through the Causes we have supported to date, at our accomplishments in stark black and white metrics, a few of which we share with you here:   c.44,000 NO OF ADULTS/CHILDREN SUPPORTED THROUGH FOOD POVERTY & TOWARDS GOOD HEALTH IN THE UK  c.4,000  NO OF HOMELESS SUPPORTED THROUGH FOOD POVERTY & TOWARDS GOOD HEALTH IN THE UK  Over 700  NO OF ELDERLY SUPPORTED THROUGH FOOD POVERTY & TOWARDS GOOD HEALTH IN THE UK 24  NO OF NEW HOUSES BUILT IN SIERRA LEONE 95  NO OF PEOPLE HOMED IN THESE NEWLY BUILT HOUSES 16  NO OF VILLAGES LIT IN INDIA 206  NO OF HOUSEHOLDS LIT IN INDIA      10  NO OF NEW CLASSROOMS BUILT IN AFRICA 889  NO OF CHILDREN SUPPORTED TOWARDS EDUCATION IN AFRICA 41  NO OF CLEAN WATER TANKS/WELLS BUILT OR REPAIRED IN SRI LANKA & AFRICA We are proud of the difference we have made. These are not simply statistics. Behind them is the experience of real people, of children, elderly, mothers and fathers. Within these numbers is Arulmathy, a widow and below knee amputee, with 3 children. She had no choice but to persevere as a daily wage worker under harsh conditions to feed her children.  A well built for them enables them to have clean drinking water and ability to cultivate her small piece of land, giving her family food and basic income.   There's Frank, 89, in Harrow, a sprightly pensioner with a twinkle in his eye. He gets enough to eat during this frightening COVID-19 crisis and helps out his deprived neighbours through our support.   Govind's village in Maharashtra now has electricity. There is no fear of snakes and scorpion bites while walking at night. His mother does not have the persistent hacking cough from inhaling noxious smoke while cooking.     For the Turay family in Sierra Leone, life will never be the same.  They moved out of a slum into a proper home.  Each day they are grateful for running water, for toilets, for the chance to live with dignity. The first baby born in the village instead of the slums heralded a new dawn for another family. The baby named Destiny after the village has a positive future with more opportunities to thrive.   And the slum children Imran,7 and Arti, 5 would have normally spent their days playing and working in a rubbish pile, helping their mothers as rag pickers. They would search for bits of plastic, used tampon applicators, scrap pieces of metal. Now their days are spent, as is the right of every child, in a classroom and playgrounds.   CHILD OF MINE BALL   In December 2020 One Kind Act hosted a glittering ball, attended almost 500 guests to raise funds for children suffering from poverty of health, education and nutrition around the world.   Over £130,000 was raised which went towards three worthy, effective Causes:   - WORLD CHILD CANCER improves the diagnosis, treatment and support of children with cancer in low and middle-income countries and provides support to their families. OKA has donated towards their work in oncology, supporting some of the poorest communities in Malawi.   - HOME LEONE works in one of the poorest nations of the world, Sierra Leone.  They have relocated hundreds of slum dwellers in a village with proper homes, sanitation, running water and electricity.   OKA has helped to build classrooms and furnish a school in this village   - THE REAL JUNK FOOD PROJECT (now known as London Community Kitchen) deals with food poverty among families in UK.  They collect perfectly good food which supermarkets would otherwise throw away and make it available to deprived, hungry families on a pay what you feel basis.     COVID 19   In March 2020, a catastrophe unfolded on our doorsteps and within our communities. COVID-19 promised to bring untold suffering to the poorest, most fragile communities in the world.   Therefore, in full awareness of the unprecedented challenges, and in many cases horror, we were witnessing we whole heartedly and quickly launched One Kind Act's COVID-19 Relief Fund.  The appeal is for dedicated additional funds to urgently allow us to help our communities prepare for, and make it through, these terrible times.  We are well placed and in touch with local Causes including frontline groups to see what is needed and how funds raised can be most effectively spent.   Over £14,000 has been raised to date, with funds still coming in regularly. One Kind Act have boosted this from our own reserves and have granted over £18,000 to:   London Community Kitchen for PPE and to continue helping them towards providing hundreds of food parcels for the vulnerable, homeless and the marginalised people of our Harrow community   Organising Food For London (OFFL) to purchase long life food, drinks and fresh fruit and vegetables for around 300 homeless people being sheltered across 3 hostels and for 4 hubs set up to meet the food needs of 100 elderly and vulnerable families in the Harrow and Haringey districts of London   NishkamSWAT to provide meals directly to our brave NHS workers who are risking their lives to help the very vulnerable and sick within hospitals   One Kind Act committee member, Ritu Soni convinced Kellogg's to donate hundreds of cereal boxes to our effort.  Additionally, she persuaded The Seven restaurant, Harrow, to also donate food cooked in their kitchens to feed the poor of Harrow.  We were humbled that a restaurant which was making no money still had the generosity to dig deep and help others even while they were struggling. Thank you The Seven. . Mark Ramprakash, our patron visited the London Community Kitchen with the mayor of Harrow to see for themselves the families that were being fed, the dedication of the volunteers and the patience of those waiting in long queues to receive their food parcels.  They also launched the "Make Harrow Smile" campaign to do a kind act and then nominate others to continue this chain of kindness.   CHARITY PARTNERS   One Kind Act caught the eye of two larger, well established charities with a view to collaborate because they recognised the special value we, as a smaller organisation, bring to beneficiaries of our work. We, in turn recognised collaboration with a large organisation allows us to bring impactful solutions to more people. We believe collaboration is the right step when it deepens the positive impact an organisation makes on its recipients.   British Asian Trust is a unique bridge between the British Asian community and supporting great projects in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They are able to identify and reach the most vulnerable sections in these countries and ensure donations have maximum positive impact. We hope to support each other in our work, thereby expanding our scope of charity work.   Yuva Unstoppable aims to transform government schools into smart, clean schools with sanitation, clean water and technology. One Kind Act is impressed with their modus operandi of maximum impact with minimum cost and whole heartedly support their vision that the long-term solution to poverty is effective education. We have contributed towards their work with marginalised communities and frontline warriors during Covid-19.   IN CONCLUSION   Thank you for all your support to enable the remarkable transformations we achieved. During the pandemic your help is more important than ever before. We need your support to help people around the world suffering through no fault of their own. Become a supporter at onekindact.org. Follow One Kind Act on Facebook, Instagram (@okacharity) and Twitter (@OKAcharity)   We leave you with the words of Ritu Soni, OKA Associate, who penned this poem after observing mothers, fathers, children, the old and young waiting to collect their food parcels in Harrow.   I queued Summer heat Or windy gales I waited  For the food bag   I queued Patient and waiting Some looked to see My bag empty My heart full   I queued  My child hungry My world now different Nothing moves me   I queued Don't judge me Nobody gets it Until you are in it   I queued  They think they know why Now it's a test Am I now for real?   I queued For respect For eyes to open wide See me  I'm not invisible. A man a woman a child.   I queued.......   For eyes to open wide See me  I'm not invisible. A man a woman a child.   I queued.......     We all at One Kind Act send you our best wishes.         There are so many great things for you to discover on the OKA website Learn more about what we do and the OKA team on our About us page See the amazing charities we have supported on our Charities page Get stuck in to some exciting reading in our Community Magazine Kindly make a one off or monthly donation on our Donations page Buy tickets for an exciting event where all profits are donated back to the OKA charity   Facebook Email Website