London, Feb 10 (PTI) Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has praised the British Asian Trust for raising 20 million pounds (USD 27 million) so far through charity appeals to support recovery post COVID-19 across South Asia.

Prince Charles, Royal Founding Patron of the British Asian Trust, accompanied by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, attended the British Asian Trust's annual event at the British Museum on Wednesday to celebrate the organisation's accomplishments over the past year and help raise funds to support recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic across South Asia.

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Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel, heads of the Serum Institute of India Adar and Natasha Poonawalla and long-term supporters of the Trust; Pakistani business magnate Mian Mohammad Mansha, Chairman of Nishat Group and newly appointed Chair of the British Asian Trust's Advisory Council for Pakistan were also present.

During his address, Prince Charles said: “I cannot quite believe it is almost two years to the day that my wife and myself were able to be with all of you to celebrate the work of the British Asian Trust”.

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“Since then, across the globe, there has been terrible loss of life from COVID-19 and we have especially seen the devastating impact throughout South Asia.

“In these most challenging times, the British Asian Trust has run four significant fundraising appeals which have so far raised almost 20 million pounds (USD 27 million). A truly remarkable achievement in such a difficult environment,” he said.

The British Asian Trust was founded in 2007 by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and British Asian business leaders to tackle widespread poverty, inequality and injustice in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

During the event, BT group announced the renewal of its support for the Trust with a commitment of 3 million pounds to support 2,00,000 adolescent girls in India.

Manoj Badale, Chair of the British Asian Trust, said: “The funds raised will help us continue to deliver large scale outcome-focused programmes in the fields of education, livelihoods, mental health, anti-trafficking and conservation in South Asia post-COVID-19.”

Over the last year, the British Asian Trust raised over 10 million pounds (USD 13 million) for its post-COVID recovery efforts, including 5 million pounds (USD 6.8 million) for its Oxygen for India Appeal to support the country during its devastating second wave.

It secured 2 million pounds (USD 2.7 million) of matched funding from the UK government for the Trust's Women's Economic Empowerment programme, which will enable nearly 10,000 Pakistani women to find a job or start a business in a post-COVID world.

The British Asian Trust also launched the USD 14.4 million Skill Impact Bond to bolster employment levels post COVID-19 by upskilling 50,000 Indian youth, with women making up 60 per cent (30,000) of the beneficiaries.

Other initiatives include the “Palaces on Wheels” charity cycle ride, which saw the Prince of Wales ride a bicycle to see-off British Asian cyclists on a gruelling 400-km challenge.

The event was hosted by British Asian Trust Ambassadors, Nihal Arthanayake, BBC broadcaster, and Reshmin Chowdhury, Sports Presenter for BT Sport and the BBC.

Others who attended the event included producer and director Gurinder Chadha, actor Nitin Ganatra, former Liverpool and Wales footballer Ian Rush, and music producer Naughty Boy. The event was supported by OakNorth Bank and Soneva group.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)