Lama Chime Rinpoche opens Tibetan charity offices in Haggerston

From left: Riki Hyde-Chambers, Lama Chime Rinpoche, Fabian Hamilton MP and Philippa Carrick in front of a portrait of the Dalai Lama at the inauguration

A famous Tibetan Buddhist has opened the new offices of the Tibet Society and Tibet Relief Fund in Haggerston.

The Tibet Society works to raise awareness about the region, while the Tibet Relief Fund helps Tibetan communities around the world by funding health and education projects. The two charitable organisations were founded in 1959.

His Eminence Lama Chime Rinpoche blessed the new offices on Kingsland Road by offering a khatag, a traditional Tibetan scarf, to a portrait of the Dalai Lama, the leader of the Tibetan Buddhist faith.

Lama Chime Rinpoche addressed the 60 invited guests, declaring he was honoured to inaugurate the new office and admired the work of both charities.

Philippa Carrick, CEO of the Tibet Society and Tibet Relief Fund, said: “We were hugely privileged to have Chime Rinpoche inaugurate our new office. I hope it will augur propitious and positive times in our vital work for Tibet.”

Riki Hyde-Chambers and Lama Chime Rinpoche at the new offices of the Tibet Society

The son of a Tibetan king, Chime Rinpoche was one of the first Tibetan lamas to come to the UK in the 1960s.

He was an influential leader who had encouraged thousands to flee from Chinese troops in East Tibet in the 1950s, personally leading 500 Tibetans across the country to safety in the city of Lhasa.

After fleeing Tibet and visiting India, Chime Rinpoche established the first centre for Tibetan Buddhists in England.

In the 1970s he was the first Tibetan lama to become a British civil servant. He later worked for the British Library as a curator of ancient Tibetan manuscripts while teaching internationally.