Sikh_Awareness_Society

Sat jee.. We find it's very difficult to designate cases to new people. We have a set of principles to work with, we need to know who we are dealing with, how they will handle it, are they able to keep it confidential. We have had many people who cannot commit, find it hard to deal with the emotional side. Also as a Sikh Organisation, we try best to balance the Spiritual and Science.. where we have have trained counselors, we also have Gursikhs who advise with Gurbani to recite - for victims and families. This is very unique, this form of counselling you won't find practiced by official bodies. So with new people it takes quite a long time to shadow our procedure and if they agree with the model and are able to assist they continue. Unfortunately many will attend a case, and after hearing things that do not sit well with their principles (non-Sikhi activities), they feel its something they will not revisit, or people they don't want to help. It is very difficult to detach yourself and be complete non-judgmental and neutral. Because of all these reasons- we're finding that its literally the same 2 or 3 sets of sevadars who are visiting most the case. This is what gets really expensive, as we all have families etc. One day London, next Manchester.. then go back to work in the morning. What we would like is to have at least 2 people full-time, on the road either deal with cases or running workshops and seminars to prevent the problems,

not yet jee, so far we have been just been using our own resources. But as of yesterday, someone has kindly emailed us to register us as a charity. Thank you

As we said last nights how, we REALLY didn't want to go down a donation appeal route, as there's so many other worthy Panthic Orgs also requiring funding. But unfortunately, as volunteers we have been using our own resources - which wasnt a problem when we started. But as the awareness has increased and the number of calls from various cities has increased it is very difficult to go and see everyone with a problem. We thank you for your support.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Dear Sadh Sangat Jee, This is a heartfelt benti to the beloved Guru Roop Sangat. Over the last 10 years SAS has travelled up and down the breath of the UK, delivering seminars, workshops, working with young people and families. You,the Sangat, have showered us with indescribable love and support. You have kindly invited us to Gurdwaras Sahibs, and to your homes. We have sat together and talked through personal problems, shared your most distressing moments together, prayed together, cried together and laughed together. You have trusted us with your most intimate and personal problems and in return, we have tried to use our experience and expertise to work to resolutions. The SAS team are made up of volunteers, but as the cases and number of calls increase we are now finding it very difficult to reach all families. We are grateful to young volunteers who travel back and forth using their own time and money, but it is very difficult for us to continue like this under the increasing demand of the work. We did not really want to go down this route, but we’re at a point where we need the Sangat to let us know how we should continue. A typical grooming case, for example in Leeds, may require us to see the family and the victim at least a dozen times. That’s 100 man hours and typically £500 in fuel costs. This is now impossible to maintain by our volunteers with the number of cases we are receiving. We are looking to have 2 people employed. This in turn will allows us to deliver a much more reliable response service to families, ideally seeing a distressed family within 7 days in majority towns/cities, if not sooner. Also this allows us to deliver seminars every week, working with young people in universities and colleges to help prevent problems arising in the first place. Sadh Sangat ji, if you feel the SAS is delivering a valuable service to our community can you please support us by filling out a direct debit form or making a donation. http://www.sasorg.co.uk/donations/ We truly appreciate your continuous love and support.

Sadh Sangat jee, The program is now available on iPlayer. Please share with friends and family. Please talk to youngsters in your families about the issues raised. We are humbled by your support and your love. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b039kmx6/Inside_Out_London_02_09_2013/

Dear Sadh Sangat ji, Just a Reminder:

This is the complete article: Also this is the BBC Midlands News Coverage:

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Guru Roop, Sadh Sangat jee, We would like to inform you of the following: 1. Today's Times Newspaper (Saturday 31/08/2013) will cover the work of sewadars against grooming. ******************************************************************************************************************* 2. This Sunday: Sikh Ethics Special with SAS Recorded at BBC London with Producer Chris Rogers on the topic of grooming. Sunday 1st September 2013 at 9PM. Sky Channel 840, online www.sikhchannel.tv http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgk_gW4A6Io************************************************************************************************************************* 3. Monday 2nd September 7.30pm BBC "Inside Out" Show, London SPECIAL. Played on Normal BBC1 in London area and all other areas on Sky 954 An Inside Out London special, uncovers the hidden scandal of sexual grooming of young Sikh girls. Breaking their silence, they speak to Chris Rogers about their experiences at the hands of these predatory men and why justice is being denied to them by their own community and the police. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039kmx6 Thank you for your support, In Seva of the Sangat, Sikh Awareness Society (SAS)

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Guru Pyaare Saadh sangat Ji, We would like to update the Sangat on the situation since the protest that took place on 29th May 2012 in Luton. Anan Majid Basharat has now been charged with 3 accounts of rape and one account of ABH. He is due to appear in Luton Crown Court in December for a plea and case management hearing. The news was prevented to be broadcasted by the court due to potential racial tension, but since it was published today in “Luton on Sunday” newspaper we feel the sangat should be aware too. The violence and harassment prior, and the barbarity of the rape ordeal were on a sadistic level. It left members of the local community shocked and shaken. The anger turned towards the police, who were made aware of the increasing level of intimidation by Basharat, but failed to acknowledge the tell tale signs, especially considering his criminal record. The community feel this horrific ordeal was preventable if the police had taken action to concerns raised by the victim’s family. From the Sikh Awareness Society, we have been working with victims of grooming, both under 16 and over 16 for over a decade. We fail to differentiate between ages, for us it is very clear; there is a highly organised element working in networks across towns and cities, engaging in what initially seem like “conventional” relationships, but have the long term aim of serious exploitation and abuse. The trend clearly points towards racially motivated sexual exploitation. We politely request all Gurdwaras and Panthic organisations to run regular awareness campaigns highlighting these dangers. We are indebted to the tireless work of our sewadars who work with little resources across the UK. We hope the community can refrain from the slander, myths and speculation, or using such news as a spring board for other political agendas, and realise we have a young daughter who has been seriously abused. Please take time to mention her and other victims in your prayers. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Fully support Bhai Kam Singh and SYP.. Standing up for real issues, no sugar coating.. please spread the link http://justin.tv/sikhyouthproject

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, Guru Pyaaree Sadh Sangat Ji, An interview will be aired on Sikh Channel this Saturday, (11th Feb 2012) at 8pm, with a family who lost their child to grooming. Being bought up to educated British born young Sikh parents, the child was just 12 years old when she was a target of sexual exploitation by adults. The interview follows the family’s journey from a happy household to a real life horror story. It exposes loop-holes in social services, police and schools who all collectively failed to protect this child. It uncovers the highly sophisticated methods of grooming and entrapment employed by paedophiles working in organised networks across cities. We have no words to express our sincere gratitude to the family who allowed us to film this for a second time, following the cancellation of the first video last month. In doing so, reliving all the distressing details and relaying them again in front of the cameras, displaying amazing courage and defiance against taboos associated with this hideous crime. Please make every person you know is aware of this show; it could save another family the unbearable heartache of losing a child. Kind regards, Sikh Awareness Society (SAS) sas.helpline@googlemail.com Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,

Dear Sister, please feel free to contact us, we have experience in this crime including the cultural, family and legal aspects sas.helpline@googlemail.com Everything disclosed will be 100% confidential http://www.sasorg.co.uk/

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, Dear Sadh Sangat Ji, There seems to be a lot of rumours and finger pointing going on over the last few days. We would like to make a few things clear: We have only the utmost respect for Sangat Trust and all Sewadars involved in the betterment of our Community. The filming was sponsored, sanctioned, filmed and edited by members of Sangat TV crew. The SAS did not at any stage bypass the normal procedure for the "Sangat Awareness Show" to be aired. Any sensationalised Text Message did not originate from the SAS. The filming was done in a responsible manner as to not provoke any negative reaction. We accepted Sangat TV's decision to cancel the show and reported it as such, as a cancellation, without speculations to the reasons why. We accept this to be a error of communication and look forward to working and supporting the Sangat Trust in future. Please be aware that Sunday 22nd Jan Shows on Panjab radio and Sikh Channel was Not represented by members of the SAS. We were told that the shows will cover grooming from a youth perspective, but we had no representatives on the show, nor were the guest aware of any details of the case in question. We would urge the youth to work responsibly and collectively towards highlighting the problems at hand, without sensationalism, finger-pointing and spreading rumours. Please can any media who wish to have a SAS representative kindly first contact us @ sas.helpline@googlemail.com Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,

contrary to the SMS messages going out, SAS and the family who lost their child through grooming (from Friday's cancelled Sangat TV Show) will not have any input in these shows. Can we please be responsible and truthful when sending out these messages.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh. Guru Pyaree Sadh Sangat ji, We just would like to clarify that this case had no element of force conversion. It was systematic and calculated sexual exploitation and grooming of a child. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.