No 10 reception is way to say thank you

The event was a celebration of Vaisakhi, an ancient harvest festival celebrated across northern India by both Sikhs and Hindus.

Leamington resident Jagtar Singh Gill, who has been involved with the Leamington and Warwick Gurdwara, said he was there wearing “a different turban” - he was invited because of his role as treasurer of the national Sikh Council, which represents Sikhs in the UK and advises the Government on laws likely to affect the Sikh community.

But the festival’s importance as a community celebration led Warwick and Leamington MP Chris White to invite Cllr Bernard Kirton, Jonathan Chilvers and Ellen Hutt.

Cllr Kirton has represented Whitnash since 1966 as a parish councillor, the town’s first mayor, a Warwick district councillor and a Warwickshire county councillor.

Mr Chilvers is leader of the Salvation Army’s Way Ahead project in Old Town, which helps homeless people find homes and get back into work, while Warwick resident Mrs Hutt has worked in the field of mental health and campaigned for better treatment of people suffering mental health problems since 1959.

Mr White said: “It was a way of saying thank you and recognising what these people do. It was a real honour to be able to say thank you in that way.”