A renowned
philanthropist and an avid art collector, Anita Choudhrie celebrated 10
years of her charity house ‘Path to Success’ with a gala dinner. The charity
house was founded in 2006 with an idea of supporting different causes every
year, and extending support up to two years or more if the situation requires
it. Through the dinner, Anita managed to raise £100k to be used for future activities, and announced extension of
support for London
Titans Wheelchair Basketball Club till next year.
Anita
talked about her days of struggle. “I have always
wanted to help people and always admired Mother Teresa. At university in Delhi
I was involved in social aid, working with children with disabilities and with
the impoverished. I started a charity in India 2002 working with children; I
always found it a huge challenge but an amazing experience.
“I set up Path
to Success as an umbrella charity. We help the sick, the homeless, children who
can’t get funding for their education and anyone with physical or mental
disabilities. There are people with so many different disabilities and I wanted
to help them all. Just to focus on one became difficult. It’s so satisfying to
be able to share as much as possible.”
Mrs. Anita
Choudhrie shared an instance when her team at ‘Path to Success’ undertook
the initiative of helping the disabled. A strong challenge at first turned out
to be an emotionally rewarding experience for them. “We collected a lot of data and research in 2012
and launched our ’60 for 60’ campaign to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee to support 60 NHS hospitals from North to South with 60 wheelchairs.
But we raised enough money to buy 83 wheelchairs.
“We have always
championed the disabled. Wheelchairs can cost anything from £500 to several
thousand pounds and over the years we have helped so many people and made so
much difference to so many lives. I wish we could support even more people.
“We will always
help victims of injury, mental, physical. There is so much you can do for
people now with power-assisted and mechanised wheelchairs, but they are
increasingly expensive. Personalised equipment is helping patients become more
independent, and more mobile. They need funding.”
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