The Board Members were met by Asra Chairman Jaffer Kapasi and Chief Executive Vijay Asi at Asra House, a registered care home which was established to meet the needs of older people with an Asian lifestyle. They then spent time talking to workers and residents there before moving on to supported housing scheme Apna Ghar, which provides shelter for women fleeing domestic violence and Huntsman Way, a scheme that supports people with learning difficulties.

After a traditional Indian lunch, Sanctuary’s Group Chair Graham Stacy was treated to a Reiki session from Ramnik Panchmatia a resident at sheltered housing scheme Sabarmati House. Reiki is an alternative healing treatment developed in Japan in the early 20th century. Practitioners claim that they are guided by a spiritual nature that flows through their hands to provide healing.

Hamilton in the north-east of the city was the next stop on the tour, where a major ‘urban extension’ is taking place. Development at Hamilton began in the late 1980s and almost 1,500 houses have now been completed. Eventually, over 3,000 houses will be provided to meet the future housing needs of the city and this is likely to take a further eight to ten years.

8th January 2007