LONDON, June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At Mansion House, the home of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Prem Rawat, on behalf of The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), made a significant contribution to Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). VSO is a charitable organisation and benefactor of the 2007 Lord Mayor's appeal. The reception was attended by Alderman John Stuttard, Lord Mayor of London, and Sheriff Richard Regan.

The reception was followed by a gala event called "Giving from the Heart," held at Guildhall. The event, hosted by Sheriff Richard Regan, was attended by a capacity audience of distinguished guests, including ambassadors, members of the House of Lords, as well as government, business and civic leaders, and people from London. At the end of the event, Sheriff Regan presented Prem Rawat with a scroll representing best wishes from His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and the Right Honourable Tony Blair MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Sheriff Richard Regan, representing the Lord Mayor, commented that, "In this hall, royalty and state visitors have been entertained for centuries. We have had the presidents of China, Pakistan and India; the kings of Norway and Jordan; President Reagan and President Gorbachev. Prem Rawat's profound message of peace among men is based on the issues of peace, of inner peace, contentment and appreciation of the simple things in life."

For Mark Goldring, CEO of VSO, "We're delighted that The Prem Rawat Foundation has chosen to support the VSO. We commit ourselves to using those resources in Mozambique to tackle poverty and disadvantage in the most effective way we can."

For N. Brooke, speaking for The Prem Rawat Foundation, "Sometimes the initiatives of the Foundation are related to disaster-relief efforts in partnership with organisations such as the UN World Food Programme, the UNDP, Oxfam or the Red Cross. At times, we spearhead our own aid and development initiatives. Our primary focus is on clean drinking water and nourishing food. Our broad goal is to honour the dignity of people in need and to provide basic necessities for them so that they can begin to help themselves. Many large humanitarian organisations primarily focus on high-population density areas, which makes very good economic sense. However, people in remote, rural regions are left behind. So TPRF focuses its efforts on people who are overlooked- those people for whom just a few pence a day can be life changing. Tonight's event, called 'Giving from the Heart,' is in honour of all those people who are so kind and so generous to be giving from their hearts to make the world a better place."

Introducing Prem Rawat, Simon Keyes, Director of St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, said: "It's a great privilege to be able to applaud the work of this remarkable Foundation. Prem Rawat draws our attention to the universal character of our human thirst for peace. At heart, his message is simple and profound. Real peace, he says, is possible. In today's volatile and unstable world, we need to be reminded that creating peace is not only a responsibility that each and every one of us must share as individuals and as citizens; Prem Rawat tells us it is an achievable task."

At the closing of the event, Sheriff Richard Regan presented Prem Rawat, on behalf of the Lord Mayor, with an illuminated handwritten scroll that read:

This document is presented to Prem Rawat by the Sheriff of London, Richard Regan, as a record of Prem Rawat's keynote address at the Giving from the Heart benefit event on behalf of the Lord Mayor's appeal, held at the Great Hall of the Guildhall, in the City of London before 635 distinguished guests on this first day of June 2007; and upon which His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, conveyed his best wishes for the success of this event; and upon which The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP, imparted his good wishes for an enjoyable and successful event; In commemoration of, and with thanks for the generosity of The Prem Rawat Foundation in support of the Lord Mayor's appeal and Voluntary Service Overseas.

Signed, Alderman John Stuttard, the Right Honourable Lord Mayor of the City of London

For an excerpt from Prem Rawat's address at Guildhall: http://tprf.org/Guildhall/

To discover more about Prem Rawat, his message of peace and humanitarian initiatives: http://tprf.org/links.htm