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Executive Summary by Chairman

I am very delighted to report that we have resoundingly achieved amazing outcomes during this past two years in the office. Whilst we were very clear with our objectives with stated mission we directed our focus and efforts on the following:

1. To extend our full support and cooperation to the Central Tibetan Administration.
2. To foster unity and strengthen relations amongst members of Tibetan Community in the UK.
3. To enhance better relations with our stakeholders, including Tibetan Buddhist Centres, Himalayan Buddhist Community and Tibet Support Groups as well as individual friends and supporters of Tibet in the UK and Europe.

Outreach: Within months of taking office, we travelled across Britain and met with our Tibetan Community members who are residing outside the Greater London region. The face-to-face meetings proved to be really helpful, both for the elected community leaders as well as to our members, who live hundreds of miles away from London. Many members have never met any TCB elected members in the past. We explained the purpose of TCB and shared the important voluntary work the elected members undertake for the community and the greater Tibetan cause.

Through this outreach initiative, positive outcomes became evident when Tibetan members started expressing their close feelings towards the TCB which later translated into concrete input from them.

Another achievement was the amazing turnout of Tibetan Community members during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visits to Aldershot, Oxford, Cambridge and London in June and September 2015. We have also seen record number of Tibetan Community members ever gathered during the Special Audience with His Holiness at The O2 in London.

Another remarkable outcome was the increase of Green Book contributors from 120 (in 2014) to 199 (in 2016), a steep rise of 40%. In monetary terms, the collection doubled from £8,000 in the first year to over £16,000 in the second year. This is a record collection in the TCB history, thanks to the amazing efforts by our Green Book & Membership Secretary, Penpa Sirso la, who paid due diligence with his responsibility.

Our pioneering launch of the Tibetans Helping Tibetans initiative in February 2015 led to another successful attempt to encourage Tibetan families to sponsor Tibetan refugee children in India through our own charity – Tibetan Refugee Charitable Trust. Thanks to the inspiring work carried out by our Sponsorship Secretary, Dr Tamdin Bradley la, the Tibetan refugee children in India will have benefitted from our total educational grant of £46,686.68 over a two-year period. This also includes £6,500 towards the Scholarship Endowment Fund from our Tibetan Refugee Charitable Trust, which supports one Tibetan university student each year through the interests earned from the capital sum in India through the Department of Education, CTA.

Our cooperation and good relations with Tibetan Communities and Chithues in Europe continue. We supported and mobilised our community members to take part in the Europe Solidarity Rally for Tibet in March 2015, when over 10,000 people from across European countries gathered in Paris in show of support and solidarity with the Tibetan people inside Tibet.

In September 2015, nearly 100 Tibetans from eight European countries travelled to London during the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We were able to facilitate a homely stay for them in London as well as extending invitation to our dinner reception at the Woolwich Town Hall, after the Special Audience and His Holiness’s Public Talk at The O2.

Earlier this year, we organised the 57^th Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day in London for the first time by TCB. One of our elder Tibetans telephoned me a few days after the event and said, “I am so proud that we Tibetans can organise such important political event by ourselves. Thank you ever so much for all the hard work you and all the council members undertook in organising the political event. I will be making a donation shortly.” We were indeed exhilarated to hear such heart-felt emotional expression of appreciation from our highly respected elder, who later gave us a fat cheque!

What these show is that we, the Tibetans, are capable of carrying out our own responsibilities and we can achieve tangible outcomes if we put concerted efforts with perseverance and some sacrifices.

I am also glad to see the realisation of securing one united centrally located weekend Tibetan language school in London, starting from 11^th September this year, for which the incumbent council has played a crucial role. For some years, this was an issue that caused some tension within the small Tibetan Community. We now hope that the pooling of our finance and human resources into one centre, and of course with mutual respect and cooperation among the various stakeholders, we can look forward to a highly successful and inclusive education programme for our children and closer relationship within our small Tibetan community.

Finally, I take this opportunity to thank my fellow colleagues – Jampa Dorjee la (Treasurer), Lobsang Tsultrim la (Culture Secretary), Dr Tamdin Bradley la (Sponsorship Secretary) and Penpa Sirso la (Green Book & Membership Secretary) who served the full duration of two years to our community and the greater Tibetan cause. They have been selfless and dedicated in giving their invaluable time and efforts. I also appreciate that they placed their trust in me to lead our community during our two years tenure. I am glad we have been able to make some difference as an agent of community cohesion.

I wish to thank Tsering Wangmo la, who we co-opted on the Council nearly a year ago, and later served as the General Secretary. I also would like to acknowledge the contributions made by Tenzin Zega la (former General Secretary) and Yeshi Ngawang la (former Campaign Manager) for their service to our community.

In this two-year report, you will see various activities and initiatives carried out by the incumbent Council. More importantly, you will see the financial report too. Please freely raise any questions during the Q&A session. We also welcome your comment and feedback on our two year voluntary service to Tibetan Community in Britain and the greater Tibetan cause.

Thank you once again to all our members and friends for your support and cooperation during the past two years.

Tsering Passang

Chairman (Sept. 2014 – Sept. 2016)