Rajinder Singh, a 73-year old British Sikh, popularly known on social media as the ‘Skipping Sikh’ was awarded the Points of Light honour by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Skipping Sikh took on skipping and fundraising for the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) in the coronavirus lockdown. He fundraised over GBP 12,000 (₹11 lakhs) for NHS charities through his skipping exercise videos on Youtube. And don’t go by his age, after all, there’s also a 60-year old Sardarji who drove all the way from Delhi to London in 135 days.
Skipping Sikh Uploaded Exercise Videos Of Himself Encouraging People To Stay Fit
The 73-year-old Skipping Sikh went viral due to his unique exercise videos. And the UK PM Boris Johnson awarded the Points of light honour to the Skipping Sikh. Rajinder Singh aged 73, from Harlington in west London, began filming exercise videos to highlight the importance of health. He brought together over 2,50,000 viewers on YouTube. And encouraged people to remain active. Sikh fundraiser over 12,000 pounds (₹11,22,608) for NHS charities.
Gifted new skipping ropes by Inderdeep Singh Bhasin thank you! God bless you ???? #skipping #sikh #skippingsikh pic.twitter.com/JygL9lqlg6
— Skipping Sikh (@SikhSkipping) June 20, 2020
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PM Boris Johnson Awarded Points Of Light Honour To Rajinder Singh For His Community Contribution
Awarding his efforts, PM Johnson wrote a personal letter to Rajinder Singh. He states “Your Skipping Sikh fitness videos have given a lift to the thousands of people worldwide who have watched online and taken part with you in your daily exercise, and provided a clever way of bringing together and energising the Sikh community at a time when temples have been closed.”
He further adds “I wanted to write personally to thank you for all that you do to support our extraordinary NHS, and encouraging the state to select up their skipping ropes and keep their spirits high by taking on your lockdown skip challenge.”
Rajinder Singh @SikhSkipping has received a #PointsOfLight award from PM @BorisJohnson for his exercise videos seen by over 250k people worldwide.
“I never thought something like skipping would inspire the world and spread smiles.”
Read more ? https://t.co/JHeM13oInQ pic.twitter.com/1AdWTufY1F
— Cabinet Office (@cabinetofficeuk) June 27, 2020
Points of Light are outstanding individual volunteers and other people making a change in their community. They are honoured every weekday by the PM to recognise their inspirational volunteer work. This award, in recognition of Singh’s fundraising efforts and spreading the straightforward message of “health is wealth” and “stay active and stay happy”, marks the 1,410th such award. During the lockdown, there are some basic home workouts you can indulge in without any gym equipment.
Rajinder Singh Thanked Boris Johnson For His Love And Support
In response, the Skipping Sikh said, “Waheguru ji ka khalsa, waheguru ji ki fateh. I am truly humbled for being awarded the Points of Light award. I love to serve others – it’s part of who I am as a Sikh and I love to do sewa (give back).” He further added “I never thought something like skipping would inspire the world and spread smiles. I’m really grateful for the support and being given this recognition. Thank you to our PM Boris Johnson, God bless you and everyone, I thank everyone for the support and love, and I encourage all to join in the skipping challenge and tag me in @SikhSkipping.”
Rajinder Singh decided to start this initiative after the lockdown. This meant he could not have his daily exercise, prayer and food with his fellow Sikhs at the gurudwara. So he then decided to share videos online of his skipping fitness routines. Through this, he inspired people to stay active with him, particularly those isolated at home due to underlying health conditions. His tutorials have since become a worldwide phenomenon. And he continues to encourage people across the globe to take this healthy journey with him during this lockdown and donate to NHS charities. Rajinder Singh is definitely a COVID Superhero from London. Back in India, we are blessed to have 11 superheroes helping the underprivileged amid the pandemic.