More than 150 people from the Hindu community at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Birmingham 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 Hall Green, Birmingham, 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 the West Midlands, 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 Acorns Children’s Hospice, Birmingham, a local charity that helps families caring for seriously ill children.
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 the West Midlands, the Challenge has helped Diabetes UK, Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham Women's Hospital and Anthony Nolan Trust in recent years.
The day ended with fun games and activities for the whole family.
Janki Chohan, one of the participants, shared, “My parents, siblings and friends took part in the challenge with me. And the best thing was that we helped to raise funds for these charities that do such an incredible job of caring for those in the local community in so many ways!”
Bipin Shingadia, a leading volunteer at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Birmingham, 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 areas in the West Midlands a better place to live, work, and thrive.”