Poonam – Founder and Trustee
Poonam had the idea to organise a community festival to mark Diwali and is the founder of Aylesbury’s Festival of Lights. Her positivity and enthusiasm are at the heart of making this annual event a fantastic success.
Poonam is a business owner, managing Holy Cow Home an ethical online store in Aylesbury and recently launching Holy Cow Tea and winner of 2022 Great Taste award from the Fine Food Guild for her blend of Chic Lady Grey Tea. She sits on several community committees and is also a wife and mother.
As a Hindu, Poonam has relished the annual Diwali celebrations and she would love people of all cultures and faiths to unite and share a joyous experience.
Julia – Trustee
Inspired by the 2012 Paralympics, Julia was keen to play an active role in supporting several community groups including Para Dance UK and Aylesbury’s Festival of lights.
With a love for dance, particularly ballet and contemporary jazz, she was drawn to be involved in a festival where music and performance were central themes. Julia was keen to discover more about Indian culture, colour and dance and is an enthusiastic member of our Trustee team.
Dr Prashanthini Jeyarajan – aka Prasshy Trustee
After hearing about the fantastic work the Holy Cow community does in the local community, Prasshy joined as a volunteer in 2020, and has been involved with the Festival of Lights since.
Prasshy is passionate about South Asian music, dance, and was keen on engaging with the local community and sharing her passion.
Prasshy graduated with a DPhil from the University of Oxford and currently works as a Senior Executive for the faculty of medicine, at Imperial College London.
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Kelvin – Trustee
We welcome Kelvin to the HCCE board as one of two new trustees. Kelvin, originally from Singapore, grew up in Holland and has now settled in as a key member of the Aylesbury community. Kelvin is a true entrepreneur, who has restaurants in and around Aylesbury, namely Miya – Japanese , Jessie – Korean and most recently the refurbished The Grapes pub. Kelvin has always supported the festival with donations of raffle prizes and we are delighted to have him on board as a trustee. Kelvin brings his expertise to help the growing of HCCE and will be key in achieving its vision over the next few years.
Kishor – Trustee
We are so privileged to have our local community champion, Kishor Shah, who moved to Aylesbury from Yorkshire to be closer to his children. With a lifetime of community engagement experience, Kishor has worked as a Chartered Accountant as well as a volunteer, taking a small charity and building it to be self-sustaining organisation focusing on arts and culture in the community. This is not Kishor’s first rodeo, he has been a core volunteer supporting HCCE throughout the years.
Ranjula Takodra MBE – Patron of Holy Cow Community Events
This wonderful lady has been an ambassador for Aylesbury town, an inspiring woman, a friend and mentor to so many. She represented the Indian community as a councillor Aylesbury Town Council, the only person to be Town Mayor twice
