Nepal UK
More than 250 people gathered at Marks Tey Parish Hall in Essex on Saturday 17 October for the Colchester Nepalese Society's Dashain celebration, an evening that combined music, dance and a two-minute silence for those who died in the flash flood that struck Nepal on 26 August.
According to an account written by the society's chair, Udaibahadur Gurung MBE, and published on 22 October, the committee had planned the event on 13 September and held it the weekend before the main festival days, which fell midweek. Guests heard children's dance performances and songs from community performers, and the singer Rejina Pariyar, who is visiting the UK, performed before and after dinner. A raffle closed the night at around 11pm.
The society says a GoFundMe appeal launched two days after the flood, together with direct donations to its account, has raised more than £21,000. Mr Gurung thanked the people of Colchester, Gurkha veterans, the wider Nepali diaspora and local friends. The figure is the society's own and has not been independently audited.
The story shows how UK Nepali groups have turned festival gatherings into fundraising and remembrance at a time when recovery in Nuwakot and Rasuwa remains slow (see Article 1). Readers wishing to support relief should check that any appeal names a registered organisation and publishes its accounts.
