Weather
300 Patels just can't be wrong!
From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Monday 13th Dec 2004.
And if you thought you had trouble filling in your match card spare a thought for Mahendra Patel who had one rule for volunteers for his charity challenge - they must be called Patel.
Mr Patel, a Bradford University lecturer, has just helped to raise more than £7,000 for the British Heart Foundation in a tournament where the players and even all the supporters shared the same surname.
The event in Leeds, which followed a cricket match was hailed a commentator's nightmare with so many players with the same name. Afterwards a celebration dinner was held at Sahib's restaurant in Manchester Road for 300 Patels.
Mr Patel is president of the Leuva Patidar Samaj, an organisation that brings together members of the extended family from around the country for charity events.
Around 120 Patels played in the match and more than 300 attended as spectators.
The proceeds go to research into heart disease, which is a major killer among Britain's South Asian community.
Mr Patel sits on the Ethnic Health Strategy committee and has also had research papers into the problem published in the British Medical Journal.
He said: "There are several factors which contribute such as smoking, diabetes, obesity, not enough exercise and high cholesterol. Ghee, used in curries, is very, very high in cholesterol. There is also a hereditary factor."
He said the match was to promote the importance of exercise as a way of fighting heart disease as well as to raise money for research to bring down the death rate.
The society has 30,000 Patels nationally as members, the vast majority from the three Indian cities of Surat, Navsari and Valsad, in Gujarat state.
Next year, it is hoped to stage a national sponsored walk involving all the Patel families in the UK. Mr Patel played alongside his son Vivek as a father and son strike force in the five-a-side charity football tournament, and scored a goal.
Around 120 Patels played and more than 300 attended as spectators.
He said: "The event is bringing families together and getting publicity for the health message on a very important matter."
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
