Chairmans Reports

From Central Gurdwara Manchester

CHAIRMANS REPORT AGM JUNE 20TH 2010

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

It has certainly been yet another very eventful year at our Gurdwara Sahib and we would like to think we continued to make progress in the betterment of our Gurdwara Sahib. I have from Day 1 maintained that is Gurdwara is truly a Sadh Sangat Gurdwara and It pleases us no end to see that our regular Sangat is now over 250 every week and between 300-400 some weeks. Our aim was to put the Gurdwara on the map for the North West of England and we have Sangat coming from Liverpool, Wrexham, Oldham, Warrington, Southport and other far away places regularly.

The momentum in the first year was fast and furious with the massive modifications to our amplifier system, the two Gurmat Camps, the website and email communication etc.

This last year it was followed up by a massive increase in the Educational Visits, improvements to website and the new Toilet facilities. We will come to the finances of the Gurdwara Sahib in the Treasurers report.

Moreover what makes a Gurdwara welcoming is its atmosphere and looking at the in the Langar Hall after the Diwan, you see many happy people mixing and networking.

OK Lets talk about the website. If one was to search for Central Gurdwara there are links on the BBC, RE teachers sites, Yellow Pages and so, so many more Sikh forums. Our email database continues to grow to enable us to inform the Sadh Sangat of forthcoming programmes. This in a way has let to a bit of a monster as we get many email enquiries daily, all of which need replying to. We introduced Paypal on the website and it is used for donations and Langar payments online by Sangat both in and outside Manchester. Infact we have had Langar bookings from London and Newcastle purely from the website and paid on the website (with Hari Singh Ji making the Langar on behalf of their sewa).

Educational visits wise … These take place every week and sometimes have been twice a week or even 3 times a week with visits into Schools also. I now get so many enquiries weekly that there are 11 Schools on the waiting list who want to come, but we simply cannot do more than we already doo. Some groups are just 5 year olds and some have been trainee Police officers and Religious education teachers. A few weeks ago we had 120 pupils in one go. It is ongoing and in my humble opinion one of the most important Sewa’s we do as a Gurdwara Sahib. I am very thankful and grateful to all the sewadaars that turn up each week and make this such a wonderful experience for all the visitors. The format is it last 3 hours. Then we sit down for Langar. So its a lot of work that goes into it each week with the shopping and preparation of Langar and serving it also, but as I say, its all down to the sewadaars that spare their precious time each week and thanks again to all of them. This is now another income stream for the Gurdwara where we charge per visitor. Schools are more than happy to donate this money to the Gurdwara and I have many, many letters of thanks from the many visitors that come, to show their appreciation for this.

Building wise, 2 main improvements.

a) Multi purpose room, which utilised the space of 3 wasted rooms upstairs at the back of the diwan hall. This room has been used for the Sikh course, is used for all registered marriages here (great comments from those booking Anand Karaj’s) and ofcourse the educational visits.

b) New Toilets. This was something that was long overdue and a long time pending. With Waheguru’s grace work started last year and was completed early this year. The kind, passionate Sangat donated their hard earned money and all got together to support the project. You can all see the new Toilets for yourselves and I am sure all agree once again it was a much needed improvement to our infrastructure. Once again we would like to tabnk the entire Sadh Sangat and all the sewadaars for making this possible.

c) New signs are outside Gurdwara to reflect the name change to Central Gurdwara Manchester.

We are forward booked for record Anand Karaj’s this year (mainly due to our improved facilities as above). The Gurdwara has invested in new tables and chairs. This again was to add to the infrastructure and income stream of the Gurdwara. This has been very successful in the last 2 weeks that we have had them and also already booked for hire for the forthcoming bookings that we have. We will come to that in the Treasurers report later.

Intercooperation between the other Gurdwara’s in Manchester has remained on track and we have worked together very successfully. So much so, that you may be all aware that we have no hazoori Ragi Jath currently. The reason for this is that the Home office changed their rules and now re have to respect the “resident Labour Market”. We cannot displace UK workers. So we need to advertise in the Job Centre and Sikh related magazines for a vacancy before any sponsorship can take place. To give some background, we were one of the first Gurdwara’s to get a Category A Sponsorship licence. Out of 350 that applied, only 100 were given and we were one of those. This was after 3 meetings with the home office inc. a visit to my home also. Subsequently I was helping many other Gurdwara Sahibs all over the UK to help them with their applications. Upper Chorlton Road was one of those and so to help them we would lend them Bhai Shanbir Singh Ji and jatha week in week out for their Diwans and programmes. They were so appreciative of this and have offered us the same in return. So although we have had no Jatha for nearly 9 weeks now, its been totally transparent for our weekly Saturday Diwan. I am thankful to Upper Chorlton Road Gurdwara for lending us Bhai Harvinder Singh Ji in our time of need. This was only possible through forging good relations and working together with the other Gurdwara’s.

I would like to thank all committee members past and present.

I would like to also thank Manku Ji for stepping up in time of need for the receipts and counting of the golak, without wanting any recognition of name. The same goes to Gurdial Singh Ji., our stage secretary, who attends weekly, looks after all the announcemts.

Thanks to all the past hazoori ragi jathas. Who were the front men of our Gurdwara daily.

In Gurbani we say. Satgur ki sewa safal hai, jai ko karai chit laae.

What does this mean?

Well it means fruitful is the service to the guru, if it is done with a sincere mind. It must be just that. Totally dedicated and devoted, selfless service and it must always remain that way.

Not just as good Sikhs, but also as good humans, I would urge us all to work together for the same aim and goal here, being the continuous betterment of our Gurdwara.

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

Pritpal Singh Makan

Chairman

CHAIRMANS REPORT AGM JUNE 28TH 2009

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

It has certainly been yet another very eventful year at our Gurdwara Sahib and we would like to think we continued to make progress in our aim of making the Gurdwara even better and better. It pleases us no end to see that our regular Sangat is now over 250 every week and between 300-400 some weeks. We have Sangat coming from Liverpool, Wrexham, Oldham, Warrington, Southport and other far away places regularly. Our aim now is to put Central Gurdwara on the map of the North West of England.

Many improvements and activities are behind the scenes (which the Sadh Sangat does not see) and today I would like to make the Sadh Sangat aware of these.

The Home Office changed the system ….. Gurdwara required licence and certificate system

Mortgage with RBOS negotiated again on interest only (no capital). This required immediate action and was, very, very urgent. This however cannot be renewed again so we are working on a remortgage now for a better deal.

Amplifier System - moved amp, speaker wires, mic wires, moved amp, new mic’s

Accounts now fully up to date and also online. New SYSTEM of annual return also now completed. THIS WAS A CRITICISM OF PREVIOUS COMMITTEES

The quality of our Hazoori Ragi jatha has been great in that having them has helped us to increase the Sangat immensely.

Live recordings of all Kirtan programs on web – downloaded from throughout the world now

That is just one of the many improvements to our website. The bookings can now also be viewed online on our Gurdwara website in a calendar format. There are many more improvements and I urge all of you to look for yourself, use the website and offer any new ideas to improve it further still.

Importance of search engines on www, painstaking time spent.

Communication much better with emails, website and flyers. £100+ a month is £1200 in postage.

There has been a big improvement in finances but we still have a long way to go. Our turning point was Harjinder Singh Ji – 600 Sangat.

Regular programmes increased with Sangrand now once a month and Asa Di Var on all morning Gurpurabs. Sukhamni Sahib path has continued to be RECITED every day.

We have now collected 414 email addresses. However there has been so little active participation from the Sangat. Why do we not all forward the emails to our friends and ask them to register. This is your Gurdwara and you can make a difference.

Through the year we have visits on Tuesday mornings from the Police, teachers and school children and pupils. This requires much dedicated sewa not just from the teachers on the day but also for the preparation of Langar. These visits are so, so important. Take for example the school kids ….

The Gurdwara Sahib continues to hold Gurmat Classes every Friday where our children come and learn Gurmat Vichaar, Kirtan, Waja, Tabla and Paath from all over Manchester. We get a very good turnout week on week and would like to thank all the sewadaars who make it so special for our children.

Established relationships with many people, teachers, police, bank managers etc. Bank managers wise this has led to sponsorships, which can only enhance our Gurdwara. Eg. Banners.

One has to deal with many issues at the Gurdwara Sahib daily. I have requested all committee members to listen to peoples issues and raise them at our meetings, so that they can be resolved and diffused quickly. We are all human and we all work differently, but for the good of the Gurdwara we all need to work together.

The Increase in the Sadh Sangat is mainly due to the above with better communication, the atmosphere of Gurdwara, good quality of our Hazoori Ragi Jatha’s and the excellent visiting Ragi’s Jatha’s.

As a result we have had record bookings of weddings, langar and paths. We must continue with this.

Now priority is with the Building work. Toilets, Ceiling, Outside. Work has already started on the new multipurpose room upstairs and it should be complete within weeks.

On that note this is truly your Gurdwara, a sadh Sangat Gurdwara and belongs to no one person and nor any committee. We are all merely sewadaars like yourselves.

In Gurbani we say. Satgur ki sewa safal hai, jai ko karai chit laae.

What does this mean?

Well it means fruitful is the service to the guru, if it is done with a sincere mind. It must be just that. Totally dedicated and devoted, selfless service and it must always remain that way.

On that note you will see another quotation from Gurbani remains on all our letterheads.

Naa ko bairee nahi bigaanaa, sagal sang hum ko ban aaee

Meaning ..... No one is my enemy, no one is a stranger, I get along with everyone.

Not just as good Sikhs, but also as good humans, I would urge us all to work together for the same aim and goal here, being the continuous betterment of our Gurdwara.

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

Pritpal Singh Makan

Chairman

CHAIRMANS REPORT AGM OCTOBER 19TH 2008

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

It has been a very eventful year at our Gurdwara Sahib and we would like to think we are making continuous progress in our aim of making the Gurdwara even better and better.

Many improvements and activities are behind the scenes and today I would like to make the Sadh Sangat aware of these. The ones you are can see are the Langar hall works completion, the new Sukhasan Room and the painting of the Gurdwara sahib as a whole.

However behind the scenes we have been very busy also and I would like to make you aware of those.

Through the year we have visits on weekday mornings from the Police, teachers and school children and pupils. This requires also of dedicated sewa not just from the teachers on the day but also for the preparation of Langar from sewadaars for all those that attend.

We have also held 2 Gurmat camps at our Gurdwara which has been great to involve all of the Manchester Sangat and both events were a tremendous success with good positive feedback received from all.

We hold Gurmat Classes here every Friday where our children come and learn Gurmat Vichaar, Kirtan, Wajha, Tabla and Paath from all over Manchester. We get a very good turnout week on week and would like to thank all the sewadaars who make it so special for our children.

In our strive to keep the Gurdwara open and busy daily, Asa Di Var is recited every morning and Sukhmani sahib path every evening daily, seven days a week. We must continue with this initiative for many reasons of which are known to all.

We are also pleased to announce the Gurdwara is now on the world wide web. Here you can not only see what is forthcoming in the coming weeks but also the latest news, Nanakshahi calendar, download the Kirtan performed here and much, much more.

In our effort to save money for the Gurdwara we also now send out emails to the Sadh Sangat as this can be done at no expense to the Gurdwara and can be also be done weekly to keep all the Sadh Sangat informed of all programmes.

On that note our Gurdwara postal database was very much out of date and that is work in progress to correct all the errors there and collect as many email addresses as possible.

On a final note we started with a new initiative of having Special Kirtan programmes at our Gurdwara, where we have invited many top and respected ragis here to perform kirtan over the last year. They have also been a tremendous success and have helped us to increase our Sangat as well as our finances and overall awareness of our Gurdwara.

The idea of all these initiatives are pure and simply just that. To increase awareness of the Gurdwara which in turn will increase the Sangat and make this Gurdwara an even better place for the Sikh Community of Manchester and our children and the upcoming next generation.

On that note this is truly your Gurdwara, a sadh Sangat Gurdwara and belongs to no one person and nor any committee. We are all merely sewadaars like yourselves.

In Gurbani we say. Satgur ki sewa safal hai, jai ko karai chit laae.

What does this mean?

Well it means fruitful is the service to the guru, if it is done with a sincere mind. It must be just that. Totally dedicated and devoted, selfless service and it must always remain that way.

Finally we are working on establishing better links with the other Gurdwara’s here in Manchester to encourage even further inter Gurdwara cooperation. We all feel this is very important for the whole community of Manchester and it is in all our interests to put any differences aside now and to move forwards not backwards.

On that note you will see another quotation from Gurbani on all our letterheads.

Naa ko bairee nahi bigaanaa, sagal sang hum ko ban aaee

Meaning ..... No one is my enemy, no one is a stranger, I get along with everyone.

Not just as good Sikhs, but also as good humans, I would urge us all to work together for the same aim and goal of the continuous betterment of our Gurdwara and jokingly I will say that means from now on NO CHUGLIAN.

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

Pritpal Singh Makan