A presentation of the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to DREAMSAI Milton Keynes was held last month.
Countess Howe, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire presented the Award Crystal and Certificate to DREAMSAI in front of the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Deputy Lord-Lieutenants, the Mayor of Milton Keynes, councillors, charity partners, faith organisations, volunteers and a diverse range of guests.
Established in 2017, DREAMSAI was registered as a charitable trust in 2019 for the benefit of local communities in Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas. The DREAM is to put into practice the teachings of the 19th Century Indian Saint Shirdi SAI. Saibaba’s teaching concentrated on moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, and inner peace, hence the name DREAMSAI.
Key projects include:
- Food for SAI: Cooked meals served to guests who are homeless, the very vulnerable or those in temporary sheltered accommodation.
Food Outreach: Delivering food parcels to vulnerable and elderly, breakfast and half term food parcels to local schools and festive hampers during Christmas, Eid and Diwali.- Blood Donation: Promoting blood donation in association with NHS Blood and Transplant initiatives.
- Youth Activities: Engaging with young people with volunteering, skills, and training opportunities.
- Mandir: A spiritual place and community centre where the local community can gather and celebrate cultural traditions and shared values.
Laxman Kastala Founder & Chairman of DREAMSAI said:
“DREAMSAI had very humble beginning four years ago with just handful of us walking around in the streets of Milton Keynes doing soup run on Saturday and GuruDay on Thursday evening.
“Today we have grown to having an incredible team of more than 150 dedicated volunteers of all ages and backgrounds spending thousands of hours every month to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable people & their families in our city. We are 100% volunteer run organisation with a third of them being youth volunteers. As an inclusive group, DREAMSAI very quickly developed positive partnerships with many other national and local organisations to collaborate and provide joined up services to widen the reach and impact while minimizing the duplication.
“Milton Keynes is a diverse place and there is need for its infrastructure to be representative of its diverse population to address the desires of these emerging diverse communities and their cultural wellbeing. DREAMSAI has some exciting plans for future to address this gap.”
More information can be found at www.dreamsai.org
Support is available via the helpline on 01908 033541
