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Rising to the Challenge | Celebrating International Women’s Day 2021, UK & Europe

7 Mar 2021

International Women’s Day, UK & Europe

The women's forum of BAPS UK & Europe celebrated International Women's Day 2021 with an inspiring online programme

Neetal Parekh welcomed viewers to the programme

The evening's celebrations commenced in the traditional way with the lighting of divas

The programme included an interactive gameshow called 'Rising to the Challenge'

Neetal Parekh introduced the theme and objective of 'Rising to the Challenge'

Dhruti Salat was the gameshow contestant for the evening

The host and contestant discussed the rules of the game

Various questions were posed to the contestant over the course of the gameshow

Neeraj Shingadia BEM narrated how she rose to achieve the Queen's Honour of the 'British Empire Medal' for her services to the community

Divyaben from Kenya shared how her faith has helped her to face various challenges

Dr Pinki Bhatt described how she rose to the challenge of treating patients affected by Covid-19

One of the sub-themes of the programme was 'Be aware of your perceptions'

A video skit reminded viewers to be aware of negative or harmful perceptions

Viewers enjoyed live participation in the programme when they were called upon to vote online on how best to guide characters in the video skit

Viewers at home helped the contestant with some tricky questions

Another sub-theme for the programme was 'Stand up against abuse'

An animated short film highlighted the seriousness of domestic abuse

The short film included innovative methods of depicting the seriousness of domestic violence

Krishna Pujara spoke about domestic abuse and shared guidance on how affected individuals may seek help

A creative video using sand art further depicted the issue of domestic abuse

Live participation from the audience allowed the gameshow contestant to be helped in her milestone question about social media, the third theme of the programme

The gameshow host confirmed the correct answer to the milestone question!

Young women discussed the benefits and risks of social media

Youth leaders shared guidance on how to use social media responsibly

A video skit highlighted some of the difficulties of social media

A video highlighted some of the new skills BAPS women have learned during the pandemic

BAPS women from around the UK and Europe talked about how they have grown creatively during the pandemic

Some examples were shown of the crochet work created by a BAPS woman during lockdown

Hasruty Patel demonstrated how gardening can also be a fulfilling and stress-relieving hobby

The fourth sub-theme of the programme was 'Seek out adventure'

An inspiring video encouraged women to be bold and confident

The video shared examples of women who had been adventurous

Dhruti ultimately won her dream prize on the 'Rising to the Challenge' gameshow

The final sub-theme of the programme was 'The fight against Covid-19'

British Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, encouraged everyone to be ready to accept the Covid-19 vaccine when called upon

Women of all ages encouraged everyone to play their part in the fight against Covid-19 and be ready to be vaccinated

Dhruti thanked the audience at home for helping her win the gameshow

Neetal concluding the evening's celebrations

The two-hour programme closed with an empowering message of hope, responsibility and unity