London– His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Royal Founding Patron of the British Asian Trust, launched the British Asian Trust’s Midlands Chapter on Tuesday (11 February) at City Rooms, Leicester. The Chapter will act as a catalyst for engaging the British Asian diaspora in the region and will be chaired by local entrepreneur Shahid Sheikh OBE.

Photo : BAT

Shahid Sheikh is a longstanding community leader and was also the Cultural Ambassador to Leicestershire County Cricket Club, the first person in county cricket to be honoured with this title.

Shahid Sheikh is now Chair of the Midlands Chapter of the British Asian Trust (www.britishasiantrust.org)

The charity was founded in 2007 by The Prince of Wales and a group of visionary British Asian business leaders to deliver effective programmes to help tackle poverty and inequality in South Asia. BAT’s  programmes aim at tackling problems in the areas of livelihoods, mental health, anti-trafficking and education across the region.

Shahid Sheikh OBE, Chair of the Midlands Chapter said, “I am honoured to be able to welcome HRH The Prince of Wales to the Midlands and especially to Leicester to begin a new Chapter for the British Asian Trust. It is an honour to serve as the Chair for the Midlands as I am deeply impressed by the work that the British Asian Trust delivers in South Asia. I hope that by chairing the Midlands Chapter I will encourage the  British Asian diaspora and others here to wholeheartedly support the amazing programmes of the Trust across South Asia.”

Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of the British Asian Trust, said, This launch is a landmark moment for the British Asian Trust and will help us to continue being the leading organisation for engaging the local British Asian diaspora across the UK to deliver programmes in South Asia. We are pleased to launch our Chapter in the Midlands which has long been home to a strong and vibrant British Asian community.”

Since we started in 2007, we have had a positive impact on the lives of 4.8 million people in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, said a press statement issued by the Trust.