A week of events celebrating Indian culture will begin in Manchester on Monday.
The Indian Society of Manchester (ISOM) is running the events to raise money for Pratham UK as part of India Week 2016.
The UK-based charity works to provide disadvantaged children in India with high quality education.
Monday’s free launch event will feature food, live music, dance, beatboxing and more.
Indian Olympic boxer Vijender Singh will also be at the event, which is being held at Manchester Academy 1, providing fans with a meet and greet.
The ISOM, a University of Manchester student-led organisation, hope the events will raise as much as £5,000 for charity and will be attended by both Indian and non-Indian people.
ISOM President Shalaj Lawania, 21, told MM: “We thought that since we have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to study and better our lives that we have a responsibility to help those who do not.
“There are always controversies and scandals in Indian politics that end up overshadowing the real issues that the country needs to deal with.
“We just thought that by supporting Pratham UK we would be able to give the charity a small boost to continue the great work that it is doing in improving access to proper education for poor Indian kids.”
It is estimated that 90% of India’s poorest children are unable to read, despite a significant number attending some form of schooling.
In previous years, ISOM raised money for for UNICEF and SEWA UK.
For more information on India Week 2016 click here.
