UK Konkans celebrate joyful Christmas 2023 and raise funds for charity

UK Konkans celebrated their annual Christmas event with great enthusiasm on 10 Dec 2023 at the Addlestone Community Centre. The committee welcomed members from all over the UK to this cultural bonanza where they were able to get their Christmas themed pictures captured at the photo booth.

The program started with traditional carol singing, a nativity scene and a quiz by Tom which got the children displaying a good knowledge of the biblical events of nearly 2000 years back.

Our debutant MC duo, Sheryl Corneleo and Eric D’Souza kicked off the show to a packed crowd. They kept the audience entertained with their one-liners, humour and live singing.

This was followed by an energetic Bollywood dance by Arina Zoe D’Souza who danced to a popular Bollywood medley.

Renita, Viola, Josita, Adora and Amelia set the stage shimmering with beautiful costumes and a lovely medley of songs which the audience loved.

Sylvester D’Souza, UK Konkans’ President, welcomed the gathering along with committee members. He expressed his sincere thanks and felicitated our sponsors, Vincy & Shanti Menezes of Diamond kitchens , Mahinder from 1st Call Builders, Jeevan and Caroline Lobo, Peter D’Sa, and Anil and Renita Pinto with bouquets and the customary shawl felicitation. Special thank you was mentioned to Mrs and Mr Lobo who have been supporting UK Konkans year after year. They were missed at this year’s celebration.

New guests to the event were introduced and they kicked off the first dance session of the day. The MCs kept the crowd entertained with various games and spot prizes.

After lots of dancing it was time for lunch. Violet from the prayer group led the grace before meals after which a buffet with home cooked Sanna , Pork Sorpotel, channe tendli sukka, raita, pickle along with biryani and chicken 65 was thoroughly enjoyed by the guests. Many thanks to those who cooked and served the food. The guests were entertained during lunch time by Eric Dsouza, Gratian D’Souza, Sheryl Corneleo, Lenisha and Delisha with songs and followed by Aviya who entertained us with musical instruments.

Kevin hosted a charity auction and appeal to raise money for Vishwasada Mane in Udupi district, Karnataka, a charity that provides care to mentally challenged patients, the aged and the education of poor children. A charity basket of Homemade Traditional Kuswar fetched £750 in a generous bid by Eric / Alice, Gratian /Sheela, and Harry / Gretta. More details of this charitable organisation can be found here.

The guests were entertained by beautiful and well-choreographed dances by Riana Menezes, mum and son duo Sinatra and Kian and finally group dance by Beena, Shanti, Charlotte, Terry and Anil. This got the audience to their feet asking for more. The ladies then came down from the stage to the dance floor and then invited the attendees onto the floor to dance to the well-known chartbusters played by DJ Ritchie.

Santa made his grand appearance and got the kiddies screaming in glee. They all danced around him and then Santa had gifts and sweets for every kid.

Tom, Shanti and Anil performed a Konkani skit “Aichi Ek Raat Ne” and had the audience enjoying the jokes and punchlines delivered by these fantastic actors.

It was then time to distribute prizes for the day and pick the lucky winner for the raffle gift hamper. There were many winners all around with the massive gift hamper won by Jyoti and Savio Gonsalves. A vote of thanks was given to all who helped make the day a success.

Special thanks go to Llyod who captured the beautiful moments of the day. If anyone is looking for a photographer to cover their special events, Llyod comes highly recommended.

The dancing continued till late evening with everyone leaving with a happy heart and happy stomach, having connected with fellow Konkans and having made new friends.