Yogendra Chhetri is a young man from Myagdi district in Nepal and runs a ‘Cleaning Services’ in Aldershot, Surrey, on the outskirts of London; Bibek Shreshta is a famous Nepali pop singer from the famous band, Kandara; so are Bhairaja Gurung of Lekali and Gagan Gurung from Madhyanna, all of whom are working and studying in London.

The three singers were keen to give a ‘taste’ of a live concert to Nepalis in and around London. However, they knew that their venture would involve a substantial financial commitment. Hence, they started to look for a sponsor who would be ready to shoulder the financial burden just in case the shows went in loss. It was difficult to find such a person. But as they say ‘where there is a will, there is a way.’

Ultimately they met Yogendra Chettri, who, according to Bibek, not only promised all the financial costs for the programmes but also bought the trio the necessary musical equipment. Manoj Gurung, also a businessman from Aldershot, took up the responsibility of managing the programmes.

Meanwhile, Bibek was contacted by HELP NEPAL Network to find out if they would be interested to donate certain portion of their proceeds to the Network. After discussing with Yogendra, the sponsor, Bibek informed the Network that they would donate £2 from each ticket sold and would also allow ‘HeNN stall’ in their shows. HeNN was much obliged to the group.

The group organised three shows in three different places in and around London. All the shows went well, said Bibek, however “due to the high cost of the programmes and not-so-fantastic attendance, expenses were higher than the income,” he lamented.

“Hence, we could not keep the promise of ‘£2-a-ticket’ donation, but as HELP NEPAL has been doing such a wonderful work, I still wanted to make a contribution and here is the cheque of £500 as a token gesture,” said Yogendra at a small function held in South East London. The cheque was then handed over to HELP NEPAL – UK’s new treasurer, Prashiddha Pradhan. HELP NEPAL Network is sincerely thankful to Yogendra Chettri and all the other group members for their generosity.