Our History

The Yorkshire Indian Society (YIS) was founded in 1985 by a small group of friends to show the community at large that Indians who had chosen to call Britain our home were a peaceful, well integrated and valuable part of our new home. This led to the first dinner at the Leeds Civic Hall in 1986. Since then the annual charity dinner has become a regular event in the community’s diary attended by the High Commissioner of India or their representative, the Lord Mayor of Leeds and other distinguished guests.

Over the years this has grown with over 500 guests attending the event. This has helped YIS raise funds for many charities in Yorkshire, UK and India.

Over the years we have helped many organisations and worthy causes with generous support from the Indian and local community and businesses. Through our interactions over the years we have tried to share our ideas, art/culture and values thus helping to create better understanding and cement relationships between communities.

Over the years a lot of individuals have contributed in organising the fundraising event and helped with the above aims while retaining the original ethos of the society.

A unique feature of our organisation is that we have no administrative costs allowing us to donate more to charities.