Region 1 (London South East & South West)

6 members from Bromley Sai Centre served 80 guests as part of their homeless service on 3rd February at Charing Cross, London. Food items included sandwiches, crisps, pasta, fruit, water, juice, potato curry, chickpea curry and rice. We packaged and served the above meals to the homeless population that queued in Charing Cross. The food was well appreciated and we enjoyed the seva as a family.

On 10th February, 12 volunteers from Region 1 from three centres joined forces for a tree planting initiative at Morden Park, organised by the charity Cities for Trees. Collectively, the hard-working volunteers planted 270 trees! It was an incredible day, filled with hard work and unity as the team came together with various communities to combat the growing climate crisis. With Swami's grace, we are steadily progressing towards our goal of planting 10,080 trees by Swami's centenary birthday.

On 24th February, Merton Sai Centre delivered 25 biryani and 25 pasta portions to Care 4 Calais, a charity that looks after refugee families.

Tooting Sai Centre served 83 hot meals consisting of chickpea and vegetable curry and rice, plus bags of fruit and water, to the homeless in Central London on 24th February.

On 2nd March, volunteers at Merton Sai Centre prepared and delivered food for those who may be homeless, at the Strand, near Charing Cross station. Over 85 people benefited from this seva, including 12 volunteers that had the opportunity to serve today! 

Wimbledon Sai Centre delivered 118kg of food to the Epsom and Ewell food bank on 3rd March. A big thank you to all the kind devotees who helped out with this food bank project. Your generous contributions have made a real difference for those who needed it, and we appreciate your kindness.

Over 350 devotees from across Region 1 gathered at the Sai Mandir at 6pm on Friday 8th March to celebrate Maha Shivaratri. The evening began with Rudram chanting and continued with an Abhishekam to a Shiva Lingam materialised by Swami Himself. What followed was a night full of melodious Shiva bhajans in a variety of raags, taals and languages. It was particularly refreshing to see all Centres and Groups in the Region come together and offer these bhajans with so much love and devotion. The Young Adults came to the forefront during the early hours of the morning leading uplifting bhajans. The night-long event concluded with 21 Aumkars, suprabhatam, bhajans and aarti at 6am the next morning. Devotees left feeling energised and looking forward to the next overnight bhajan, to be held on Aaradhana Day.

Upcoming Tree Planting Opportunity

We have found another chance to help and take part in an aforestation activity in March, as well as get closer to our target of planting 10,080 trees part of the Sri Sathya Sai Prema Tharu project. This community planting day is organised by Trees for Cities and Croydon Council.

Please join us on Saturday 16th March, 10am-3pm at Ashburton Playing Fields.

Please note that your attendance for a few hours will be greatly appreciated; it is not necessary to stay for the entire day.

If you are interested in joining us, please kindly sign up on the Trees for Cities website, via the link below AND please also fill in the Google form via the second link below (you must complete both forms).

If the registration closes online, you can still attend on the day: just sign up in person on the day, but do please complete the Google form below, regardless.

Thank you.

Region 2 (London North West and nearby Home Counties)

Region 2 celebrated the auspicious Maha Shivaratri festival on Friday 8th March. With Swami’s divine blessings and grace, there was excellent participation throughout the 6-hour-long programme. The programme started with the welcome address by the Regional President, followed by chanting of powerful Vedic mantras and melodious stotrams chanting the glory of Lord Shiva. These were followed by melodious bhajans, of which a slot for over an hour was for the SSE children, offering uplifting bhajans on the auspicious occasion. Members from all the wings contributed tirelessly towards the grand success of this event, leaving the devotees with a fulfilling and thrilling experience at the end of the bhajan session as they left the venue fully charged spiritually. This was all possible with the blessings of our Divine Master Sai Shiva, who guided us to give our best through the preparations before and during the event.

Slough Sai Centre's Service Coordinator, Sister Ramita Deol, organised home bhajans at her home on Saturday 27th January. Over 50 devotees attended, with a number of bhajan singers having come forward to be a part of the event. The bhajans created positive vibrations and it was such a blissful evening.

Slough Sai Centre made its first food donation of the year to Manna food bank in Staines. In total, devotees donated 43kg of essential items. The Centre will be looking to continue this service on a quarterly basis, while also looking into cooking for the homeless on a monthly basis at two local shelters.

With the grace of Bhagawan, Alperton Sai Centre was blessed to celebrate three events together: Maha Shivaratri, Mother's Day and International Women's Day. The devotees offered Abhishkam and Bilva to Lord Sai Shiva while chanting Lingashtakam. All the ladies were each presented with a rose to honour their motherly love and pay tribute to the Shaktis.

Brother Vishal Sharma, Vice President of Greenford Sai Centre, hosted home bhajans on 25th February, attended by some 35 devotees, who together created wonderful vibrations.

Slough Sai Centre celebrated Maha Shivaratri, coupled with Mother's Day, on Sunday 10th March. The event was well-attended by around 70 members. The programme started with chanting led by our SSE children, whilst all the devotees had the opportunity to perform Shivalingam Abhishekam. This was followed by vibrant bhajans and aarti. Devotees were able to come forward and offer Mantra Pushpam towards the end. The special highlight was when our Bal Vikas (SSE) children came forward to say a few words and express their love towards their mums on the occasion of Mother's Day. The event ended with prashadam offerings and devotees enjoyed the whole day, which was filled with love.

Region 3 (London North, East & Central and nearby Home Counties)

The Region 3 Maha Shivaratri programme was held at Nagrecha Hall, from 7pm, 8th March until 6am, 9th March. Over 200 devotees registered and 100 devotees stayed overnight. The Bal Vikas children chanted the Ganapati Prarthana, Guru Stotram, Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra 9 times, Sri Rudram, Purusha Suktam, and the Kshama Prarthana. During this time, the Pandit started the linga pooja with the linga abhishekam and all devotees had the wonderful opportunity to do abhishekam with milk. Stotrams were chanted during the 4 Prakara Poojas throughout the night, every 3 hours. Bhajans were sung throughout the night by Bal Vikas children, Young Adults, and other devotees from various Centres in the Region. The programme concluded with the aarti and was live-streamed on YouTube. There were powerful vibrations felt by all.

On 23rd February, devotees from Chelmsford Sai Centre gathered to plant 9 young trees at the Old Chelmsfordians Association for the Sri Sathya Sai Prema Tharu initiative. It was wonderful to see so many of our Bal Vikas children participate too, and the atmosphere was so uplifting and full of team spirit. The trees are all flowering and berry-bearing, which will help attract wildlife, as well as being attractive and good for the environment. We thank Swami for gracing us with this wonderful opportunity.

35 devotees from Hatfield Sai Centre celebrated Maha Shivaratri on 24th February. Vibrant Shiva bhajans and multi-faith bhajans charged the atmosphere with the Universal Energy, followed by Swami's discourse. Our Bal Vikas student, Surena, delivered a talk on the essence of Maha Shivaratri, and our Sai sister, Prof. Daksha Trivedi, shared her insightful guidance from Swami from over almost four decades. We offered aarti with deep gratitude to God for His Divine Presence in our lives.

On 9th March, Colchester Sai Centre held their Maha Shivaratri celebrations. To celebrate, the devotees chanted the Ganapati Prarthana and Lingashtakam, followed by bhajans. Before bhajans, the Centre gathered together to create food hamper packages for the local Salvation Army. Along with the food items, the Bal Vikas children created some beautiful Easter cards, which they presented to Swami and were added to the hampers.

Mill Hill Sai Centre has been supporting the Burnt Oak Community Food Bank on an ongoing basis over the last 12 months. During the February half term school holidays, Bal Vikas children and adults volunteered their time at the food bank. We delivered some items to the storage depot, to help with sorting and packing the items, in readiness for the next day. Seeing all the donated items received from all donors made us realise how lucky we are that these items are already in our cupboards and fridges at home. On the day of the food bank, we went 2 hours early to help set it up. What surprised us was that there was already a queue of people waiting for the bank to open; once again, we realised we are very fortunate to have so much food that is easily provided for us. During the day, we helped unload the vans and cars with further donated items, helped set up the hall to look like a shop and handed out items with a loving smile! One girl fainted, as she had not eaten any food since the previous day. This taught us that when people do not have enough money for regular meals, they can become unwell. Sister Deepa (who runs the foodbank) and her team of volunteers do an amazing job, and we are planning to go back during our next school holidays to help again. (From two Group 1 Bal Vikas students.)

As part of its Spiritual Wing activities, Mill Hill Sai Centre has recently introduced weekly snippets called 'Sai Connect.' Every Thursday, a 1-minute video clip of Swami’s discourse is sent out to all devotees. The objective of this is for people to connect with Swami and provide a reminder of what Swami would expect from us as His instruments. Feedback from devotees, since the launch of this weekly video, is that it serves as a gentle reminder on how to deal with all the challenges that Swami throws at us and His message can be listened to and applied to at anytime. Feel free to listen to the weekly video shorts, via the following link: Sai Connect Shorts

Children from Bedford Sai Centre had their first session sowing the seeds of love on Mother’s Day, 10th March.

Bedford Sai Centre honoured Lord Shiva with abishekam, prayers and bhajans from 10pm to 12 midnight on 8th March. This was attended by 25 devotees. The energy was so uplifting and bhajans continued until well past midnight.

Region 4 (Midlands)

The Region 4 Office Bearers' Conference on 17th February started in the traditional manner, welcoming our beloved Swami to St Paul's Church, Leicester, with multi-faith prayers, followed by an icebreaker. After hearing Swami’s divine discourse, there was a magnificent video compilation of activities completed throughout Region 4 during 2023.

This was followed by the Birmingham Sai Centre President sharing his personal journey with Sai, including his supporting the launch of the first Sai Centre in Prague, as well as translating Sai literature into Czech.

Subsequently, Manishaben, our Regional President, gave an update on key points from the National Conference held two weeks earlier, including the SSSO UK Governance framework and the UK's new Centenary logo – “100 Years of Pure Love.”

This was swiftly followed by each wing sharing its vision and main focus for 2024. Then, there was a group discussion to plan the Centenary celebration for the region. Everyone took an active part, including a few Bal Vikas children.

After a tasty lunch, there was a quiz on the SSSO UK guidelines, and another group discussion about the importance of personal and collective sadhana. We all departed after closing prayers and aarti.

Leicester Central Sai Centre held a "Back to Basics" workshop on non-violence on 7 February, aimed at helping volunteers and devotees to control their thoughts, words, and actions for a peaceful spiritual journey. Through group discussions and presentations, participants explored how the mind, thoughts, and senses influence daily life and how to avoid conflict by remaining calm and resolving issues peacefully. The workshop emphasised the importance of positive thoughts, empathy, and understanding to achieve non-violence. The discussion also touched upon Karma and how actions guided by higher self-values like love and patience lead to positive outcomes. Additionally, the workshop highlighted the importance of controlling our senses, particularly the tongue, to avoid causing harm through words and actions.

On Saturday, February 17th, 2024, volunteers from Leicester Central Sai Centre assisted with a dental clinic for the homeless at The Bridge, a local homeless charity. The clinic took place at the Doncaster Road Dental Surgery, with Jagdishbhai and Harishbhai providing transportation for the guests. Sureshbhai volunteered at the clinic itself, while Vijayanbhai assisted with medical assessments at The Bridge. The team served a total of 11 guests and received positive feedback.

The Chinese New Year celebrations at Narborough Road Sai Centre were quite enchanting! The beautiful altar was adorned with decorations and symbolic items. The small dragon entrance added an element of traditional flair and mystique to the setup, as dragons are often associated with power, strength and good fortune in Chinese culture. A lovely message was read out by one of our Young Adults about the year of the Dragon. Overall, the celebration was a vibrant and culturally rich event, embracing the spirit of Chinese New Year with style and reverence, including two beautiful Chinese bhajans.

Region 5 (North England and Northern Ireland)

Sai Vivek, an ex-Bal Vikas student and now Young Adult, from Halifax Sai Group, decided to share his knowledge of Veda chanting. He has organised and led classes to teach the 1st Anuvaka of Namakam in the run up to Maha Shivaratri, whilst studying at Lancaster University – a great example of leadership!

In preparation for the holy night of Maha Shivaratri, Bolton Sai Centre organised a daily online reading of Shirdi Sai Baba’s Satcharitra over 7 days. To cater for devotees’ diverse needs, the reading was completed in Gujarati, and led by different devotees every day. The final day of the Parayan concluded with Shirdi Sai Baba's aarti.

Across Region 5 so far, we have already completed 5 house bhajans as part of the 1,008 homes bhajans offering, and many more are scheduled over the next few months. If anyone would like to host home bhajans or would like more information, please contact your Centre or Group President.

Maha Shivaratri was celebrated at Newcastle Sai Centre on 8th March. The evening started with Rudrabhishekam followed by the singing of Ashtakams for Lord Shiva. Bhajans and aarti provided a wonderful culmination to a spiritually elevating evening. The ladies had a special International Women’s Day celebration after the aarti. Dinner (prashadam) was served. Devotees wanted more even after the five-hour-long evening programme and left the Centre finally taking Lord Shiva in their hearts.

Around 50 devotees from Leeds Sai Centre got together to celebrate Maha Shivaratri on the evening of Friday 8th March. The programme began with the chanting of Rudram with everyone getting a chance to perform abhishekam to the Shiva Lingam. All the devotees then joined in a collective singing of various Shiva stotrams. A meditative session of “Om Namah Shivaaya” chanting led by Swami followed soon after. Everyone present actively joined in with the singing of powerful Shiva bhajans culminating in an energetic and fast-paced medley. The programme came to an end with aarti being offered to Swami and Maha prashadam being served to all the devotees.

Bolton Sai Centre, Warrington Sai Centre and Greater Manchester Sai Centre combined to celebrate Maha Shivaratri on Friday 8th March at the Veda Mandir in Bolton with chanting, Lingam pooja and uplifting bhajans until midnight.

Maha Shivaratri was celebrated at Bradford Sai Centre with prayers and vibrant uplifting bhajans through to 10pm on Friday 8th March.

Region 6 (South & South East England)

On 7th February, tree planting seva was undertaken by Tunbridge Wells Sai Group, with 180 trees planted across batches.

Tunbridge Wells Sai Group held its first parents' meeting of 2024 with a fantastic turnout of 40 people. We discussed the significance of Bal Vikas through the five teaching techniques and five human values, emphasising the importance of face-to-face classes. We collected very useful feedback from current parents on the benefits of Bal Vikas: children are becoming more confident, regularly chanting Gayatri mantra and slokas and also enjoy participating in dance and drama.

Tunbridge Wells Sai Group held a home bhajan, hosted by Sister Latha, as part of the 1,008 bhajans offering. The event started with Gayatri mantra and Vedam chanting. This was followed by the Lalitha Sahasranamam and bhajans. The event concluded with aarti and Swami’s message. Around 50 people attended the event.

On 10th February , a group of 15 devotees from Farnborough Sai Centre participated in litter picking and a spiritual walk around the Hook area.

Basingstoke Sai Group held Saraswati pooja bhajans on 14th February, at a devotee’s house, as part of the 1,008 home bhajans initiative. In total, 15 devotees attended the event. The programme commenced with Saraswati Vandana and bhajans, followed by aarti and prashadam.

A home bhajan was held by Folkestone Sai Group on 8th March to celebrate Maha Shivaratri. A total of 12 people attended and bhajans were concluded with aarti and prashadam.

On 8th March, Farnborough Sai Centre held Maha Shivaratri bhajans from 8.30pm till 1am. Approximately 20 people attended the event. The Centre also organised Ekadasha Rudram at the Aldershot Shiva temple on 9th March. In total approximately 50 people attended. The function ended with prashadam.

Region 7 (West & South West England and Wales)

Region 7 Young Adults participated in a Supermarket Seva Week to support local food banks. Young Adults were encouraged to visit supermarkets, donate at least three items from the suggested list, and share their experiences on serving the local community. The initiative aimed to make a collective impact and effort to serve our neighbourhoods, despite geographical distances. A total of 10kg was donated to food banks via local supermarkets. There’s always an opportunity to serve!

In Swindon city centre, 47 people were served potato curries and rice by members of Swindon Sai Group, in a joint service activity with members of Swindon Caring Hearts, a local homeless charity.

Devotees from Region 7 had the very good fortune of planting trees in Great Avon Woods, Bristol. On 10th February, blessed with good weather, 73 samplings were planted. It was a splendid day and we could not have asked for a better weather for this activity. Similarly, on 18th February, 13 devotees, including Young Adults and Bal Vikas children, planted 158 saplings. It was an auspicious day as it was the last day of Gupt Navratri in honour of Goddess Durga.

Devotees from Bath Sai Group and Cheltenham Sai Group attended the Mayor's multi-faith event at the prestigious Guildhall in Bath, in a beautiful ceremony themed People of Bath (Hidden Helpers). Representing the Sai Organisation, we presented Swami's teachings on Service to Mankind (by Brother Jey Sivaloganathan), which was very well received. A song was also offered, 'We Are One In The Spirit.' The event also included a panel discussion about representation of all faiths and the event was attended by the Mayor of Bath.

A total of 54.3kg food and toiletries donated by Cheltenham Sai Group to various local food banks during February.

Devotees from Region 7 gathered together to celebrate Maha Shivaratri with bhajans, Vedam and the Young Adults sharing Swami’s messages on the significance of the occasion. It was a memorable and divine occasion at the Cheltenham temple, where bhajans were sung past midnight.

Region 8 (Scotland)

Aberdeen Sai Centre celebrated Uncle Mohan’s 80th birthday at Sister Gowri Mohan’s house. Uncle Mohan was the person who started Sai bhajans in Aberdeen in 1982. 25 people attended.

Glasgow Sai Centre did their usual Sunday service at the Wayside Club Centre. Around 6-7 members volunteer for this service every week. They prepare food and serve to the homeless.

Glasgow Sai Centre celebrated Maha Shivaratri on 8th March. Around 50 people attended. The bhajans started at 7.40pm and continued till midnight.

Edinburgh Sai Centre celebrated Maha Shivaratri on 8th March in the Edinburgh Sai Mandir. Around 20-30 people attended. The celebration started with Rudram at around 6.30pm, followed by bhajans and aarti.

Edinburgh Sai Centre held its first tree planting session at Easter Craiglockhart Hill on 10th March. Around 12 volunteers attended this. It was typical Scottish weather: cloudy, wet and cold! All the necessary tools were provided by the Friends of Easter Craiglockhart Hill charity. We planted 5 walnut and 4 sweet chestnut trees. The charity also arranged a little tea for us after the planting, which was very welcome. Overall, it was a delightful experience.