London: A charity dinner to raise funds for educating children of widows in India was attended by around 400 guests including Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London last night (Oct 13, 2004).

The gala event was held as part of Diwali celebrations.

About 33 million widows live in India with about 100 million children dependent on them, Cherie said.

Lauding the effort of the Loomba Trust, of which she is now President, Cherie described it as a "magnificent" effort and sought wholehearted contribution from the guests to donate liberally to a cause "dearer" to her heart.

Currently, 1,100 children in 10 States were being funded for their education at the rate of Rs 500 per month for five years.

"The trust aims at educating 100 children in each of the 29 States over a period of time," she said.

"The vision of the Loomba Trust is to educate the children of poor widows in India irrespective of gender, religion or class. The criteria for selection are simple, the widow's income should be less than Rs 1,500 per month." Chairman (Trustee) of the Trust, Raj Loomba said.

Among others who attended the dinner were Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Member of Parliament Keith Vaz and president of the Liberal Democrats Lord Navnit Dholakia, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy, Conservative MP and Shadow Home Secretary David Davies, Indian High Commissioner Kamalesh Sharma and the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone.