Trust’s honorary Sikh chaplain ‘humbled’ to receive MBE

Parminder Kaur Kondral, who supports patients at Queen’s and King George hospitals, run by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, as a volunteer honorary chaplain, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s delayed Birthday Honours.

Parminder is the National Coordinator of the UK Sikh Healthcare Chaplaincy Group and has worked with the group since 2012. The MBE recognises her services to the Sikh community.

She said: “I am truly humbled to receive this MBE. It makes me feel proud of what I have achieved in my lifetime so far. Without the ongoing support from my husband and family, none of these accomplishments would be possible.

“The work I do with hospitals, hospices and healthcare centres across the UK means I am able to support people sometimes in very difficult situations. It is my honour to be able to do this.”

As well as her work with the Trust, Parminder has links with Saint Francis Hospice, Romford, St Luke’s Hospice, Basildon, St Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney, the John Howard Centre, London, as well as Haven House and Richard House children’s hospices. 

In the 2012 London Olympics, Parminder was a community advocate, as well as a games maker, and in 2014, she won a Redbridge Asian Women’s Achievement Award.

Parminder, who is married to Sajit Singh, and has three children and a granddaughter, is an executive member of the Sikh Women’s Alliance and works in the adult health and social services care centre in Barkingside.

The 64-year-old also sits on faith committees across Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge.