Leicester April 2017

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LEICESTER EDITION April 2017

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ticket giveaway

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CHARLIE SLOTH Tells us UK music is the best in the world right now

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ROB DA BANK Gets the party started

‘We always find ourselves in sticky situations’

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Going an extra mile Volunteers travel to another continent to help improve lives of poor in India

 SARA TORRES

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HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS Meet the competitive eater

Being able to help others around you is always a nice feeling, whether it’s lending a hand at your local food bank or giving money to charity. But a group of students have taken their generosity further afield and volunteered at a spiritual centre in the state of Gujarat, India. An initiative lead by De Montfort University’s Square Mile project, was launched to ‘make a real difference to the lives of some of the poorest and most vulnerable families in Gujarat’. There are several objectives to be carried out by the organisation,

including supporting a home and healthcare for ‘untouchable’ children from the lowest caste in the state’s largest city, Ahmedabad, connecting rural villages and offering scholarships. Amy White, outreach and projects officer for DMU Square Mile, said: ‘We’ve raised over £28,000 this year, which helps children directly in their health and wellbeing. ‘The funds provide money for food and bedding, for medical attention or new clothes.’ A number of students from DMU have visited the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad to put what they have learned in their lectures and seminars to the test. The latest trip saw students

You can see pictures of what it looks like, but you don’t get a sense of what it’s really like until you go there

David Pilsworth, De Montfort University

from DMU’s Faculty of Technology visit the ashram to see how renewable energy could be used in the area to improve reliability and cut costs. Omar Mohamed, an electronics engineering student, said: ‘Instead of spending most of their money on paying the bills, they could be spending it doing more for the kids.’ Some of the students who visited the area were shocked by some locals’ living conditions. Omar said: ‘In the slums, the poor pick up trash to make a living. ‘They wake up at 3am or 4am and when they come back at about 6pm, they have to get it weighed and sort the rubbish. They get pennies for that.’

David Pilsworth, a mechatronics student at DMU, added: ‘These children have basically no money. So what we’d say is nothing is everything to them. ‘You can see pictures of what it looks like, but you don’t get a sense of what it’s really like until you go out there.’ Students were surprised by the community’s positivity amid the poor living conditions. David said: ‘One of the children I met wants to become a dancer and another one wants to become a rocket scientist. They have got such huge ambitions. ‘They should keep pursuing them for as long as they can.’

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