More than 200 people from the Hindu community at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Wellingborough came together to participate in the BAPS 10K Charity Challenge on Sunday 8 June 2025.
The participants – from toddlers through to senior citizens – walked, jogged or ran 10 kilometres around Irchester Country Park in a fun-filled family and community event that raised vital funds for various good causes.
The annual Charity Challenge is a nationwide effort that brings together more than 3,000 enthusiastic participants at around 20 towns and cities across the country, offering a fun and healthy way to raise money for various local and national charities.
The funds will support BAPS’s multifarious educational, community, and spiritual activities in Northamptonshire, which serve children, youths, families, and the elderly.
The 2025 Challenge will also support BAPS’s national charity partner, Children With Cancer UK, which is the country’s leading childhood cancer charity aiming to help every child and young person survive cancer by funding life-saving research and supporting patients and their families through treatment and beyond.
The participants also raised funds for The Lewis Foundation, a local charity that helps cancer patients in hospital by carefully sourcing, packaging, and hand-delivering free gifts to brighten their stay.
Previous national partners for BAPS and BAPS Charities have included Age UK, the Alzheimer’s Society, the Anthony Nolan Trust, Barnardo’s, Breast Cancer Care, the British Heart Foundation, Carers UK, Diabetes UK, KIDS, Macmillan Cancer Support, and the NSPCC. Locally, in Northamptonshire, the Challenge has helped Cransley Hospice Trust, KidsAid, Children Are Butterflies, and Northamptonshire Health Charity in recent years.
The day ended with fun games and activities for the whole family.
Lorraine Lewis, CEO of The Lewis Foundation, attended the opening ceremony and shared a few words before the walk began. She expressed her gratitude to BAPS for its ongoing commitment to serving the wider community, stating, “Your generous support will bring a smile to so many patients struggling with cancer in hospital – and that’s priceless.”
Krupa Patel, one of the participants, shared, “It was such a lovely day out for my children and us. And the best thing was that we could raise vital funds for all these charities that do such amazing work in our local community here!”
Amar Patel, a leading volunteer at the BAPS Hindu temple in Wellingborough, added, “The annual Charity Challenge is inspired by His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, who teaches us to serve everyone in the community, regardless of faith or background, as a part of our moral and spiritual duty. We are grateful for this opportunity to come together – young and old – to support one another and make our town a better place to live, work, and thrive.”