Source: www.times-series.co.uk
UNITED KINGDOM, October 18, 2009: The Shree Swaminarayan Temple, in Finchley Road, opened its doors for the annual festival of light, in which Hindus are encourage to give food and money.
This year leaders decided the spirit of giving should extend further than food and money to help give blood supplies among ethnic minorities a welcome boost. Prem Patel, spokesman for the temple, said: “Diwali is a time of giving, to society as well as to loved ones. “We have hundreds if not thousands through these doors, and many have taken up the service offered by the National Blood Service.”
There has been a longstanding shortage of blood donations from the ethnic minority communities, which is a problem because body tissue has racially specific characteristics.