Dec 8, 2025 9:09 PM - Connect Newsroom - Pervez Sandhu

A welfare workshop was organized by the Vaapsi Seva Society this weekend at the Khalsa School, located near 120th Street and Old Yale Road in Surrey.
The aim of this workshop was to educate people about addiction and mental health. The event continued from 1 pm to around 5 pm.

During this, various speakers shared their views and explained to the nearly 300 people who attended the workshop, based on their knowledge and experiences, the harms of substance use and addictions and its impact on the community.

During this, some speakers who have themselves suffered or seen loved-ones suffer from addictions were also present and, sharing their personal experiences, they urged people to learn from their losses and stay away from drugs.

Gurmukh Singh, one of the organizers, said that through this initiative, they are trying to provide support and education to the affected people and provide them with tools to get out of this crisis.

B.C.'s Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, Jessie Sunner, was also present at this workshop. Sunner appreciated the workshop and acknowledged that, “substance abuse is a serious problem and along with the steps the government is taking, such community initiatives are also very important.”
Surrey city councillor, Linda Annis was among the people who attended the workshop. She said, “we need to have many more of these workshops to deal with the addictions problem and I want to thank the organizers to have taken the initiative for this discussion.”



