Mata Sahib Kaur Academy Is Apparently Shutting Down

[truthsikher]

Waheguruji ka khalsa waheguruji ke fateh.

A few facts, not one penny has been repaid towards the loan taken out, contrary to the messages from the academy sevadars during the previous fundraising requests

The person who raised the loan has not interfered in the running of the academy, and he was assured by the 'sevadars' that they would assume responsibility of the loan 2 years ago.

The current value of the building is considerably less than what was paid for it, and therefore the legal owner has no benefit, and will likely make a loss if he were to sell it

A question that needs answering, where are all the funds that were raised last year and this year, if the loan value has not decreased? Things are not quite as clear at the academy as we would all hope from a place that had such high virtues when it opened

[HDSH]

^ Again, do you have any proof for what you wrote?

[truthsikher]

^ Again, do you have any proof for what you wrote?

Yes, I have spoken to the legal owner, and I can only promise you that I have no personal relationship with him. The statement from the academy even tells us that the loan has been secured and is still outstanding. The statement from the academy at the last fundraising told us that they had refinanced the loan, and it is untrue, 1.2m is still outstanding.

I am personally very upset that the academy will be closing, and it will put shame on our community that in an affluent Sikh area, we have not be able to fund it.

[HDSH]

So we are just suppose to take your word for it? While I have nothing against you personally, that does not sit well with me. If you make a claim on a public forum, you should provide direct evidence to support your claim.

[JSinghN]

I've always found the academy sevadars very welcoming and also very forthcoming when asked directly about the situation with regards to the academy. Again there is alot of hearsay a meeting must take place where all of the sangats questions can be answered. What annoys me is that they keep telling everyone theres a problem at the last minute i.e. a week before it was meant to shut down. Surely they should of contacted the sangat in plenty of time before this?

[Gurukameet]

Even though the loan has not been paid off they have totally renovated the building, with new kitchens, we used to sit on the floors to do the cook at the beginning, new toilets, new sports hall, new langar hall, new computer room, with all sorts of facilities. etc... everyone is just exhausted I think, one person cannot do everything. if it is a registered charity, then surely the charity commission must have some involvement in the decision making and it does need legally to have a treasurer, secretary, and chair. One may hates committees but it is the law of this land that all registered charities have accounts publicised. There is funding from various sources they can tap into, it is clear that Soho Road Gurdwara has tapped into public available funds. Unless they make the accounts clear they cannot tap into public funds. I do not go there much now but still :-( :-( heart broken

[truthsikher]

So we are just suppose to take your word for it? While I have nothing against you personally, that does not sit well with me. If you make a claim on a public forum, you should provide direct evidence to support your claim.

No, I cannot prove the conversation I have had. I did not have any intention to disclose it, as you can see I have been a member for a few years but only posted now. In this thread there were a lot of questions in regard to the owner, and a lot of misinformation. Some of the information can be garnered from the previous thread in regard to the academy. logically why would a Gursikh want to take the keys off the 'sevadars' if his loan were being repaid, not just the interest, and face the shame within the community. Brother/Sister you don't need to take my word, think about it logically, and ask the academy where are the funds that were collected to apparently repay the loan.

As I said the potential closure is shameful for the Sikh community, but as the academy's running/ ownership/ finances have generally been kept from the wider community it has lead to some mistrust locally and hence the lack of finance. I shall try and avoid saying anymore on the subject.

[Badmash007]

No, I cannot prove the conversation I have had. I did not have any intention to disclose it, as you can see I have been a member for a few years but only posted now. In this thread there were a lot of questions in regard to the owner, and a lot of misinformation. Some of the information can be garnered from the previous thread in regard to the academy. logically why would a Gursikh want to take the keys off the 'sevadars' if his loan were being repaid, not just the interest, and face the shame within the community. Brother/Sister you don't need to take my word, think about it logically, and ask the academy where are the funds that were collected to apparently repay the loan.

As I said the potential closure is shameful for the Sikh community, but as the academy's running/ ownership/ finances have generally been kept from the wider community it has lead to some mistrust locally and hence the lack of finance. I shall try and avoid saying anymore on the subject.

Are the Academys account on-line anywhere ? Can the locals pls comment about any mistrust of the Academy management.

[sall]

it just gets better and better doesn't it/

academy sevadars from what i understand are the current youth not some old uncles which form majority of the committtees up and down the country.So why the discrepancy?? from current educated youth of today???

If the case is as truthsikher says accounts kept private, and loan not paid at all with sangats donations - then I'LL BE THE FIRST TO ASK FOR MY MONEY BACK- of which i have contributed over the course of the year on a monthly basis, anyone else care to join me?

[proactive]

The only issue I can see is that the sewa does not seem to have been well thought out at the beginning. How takes a loan of 1.2M for TWO years? Surely the loan should have been taken for a longer period or they should have looked at a more modest building and hence a smaller loan from the bank. It would appear that they placed too much reliance on the community being able to cover the interest and perhaps even being able to pay off the loan in 2 years. If they had not taken the loan for such a short period, the bank would not have been able to demand it's money back. Another issue which does come to mind is that most Sikhs in the UK have never heard of the academy or have only heard off it when it was announced some months ago that it was going to close and needed funds. The Sewadars should have made an effort to publicise their work and got the community, not just the local community but all across the UK.

What this sad event shows is that until the youth start to take an active interest in taking part in the politics of the Gurdwara by becoming committee members then they will have no access to Gurdwara funds and resources such as halls etc. It doesn't take a genius to work out that most of the Gurdwaras in the area would have made minimal if any contributions to the academy. What the youth need to do is to take part and run in Gurdwara elections like they have done recently in Canada and defeat the old codgers and leftie/communitist nakammay that run Gurdwaras at the moment. If the academy sewadars were also members of or ran committees in the local Gurdwaras they would not firstly have needed to take a loan on a property as Gurdwara halls would have been available to them. Even if they required a property then they could have covered the interest quite easily. Now it looks like a lot of money has been spent on renovating a property which will be lost to the community.