After retiring as mayor, Beard has been in the Borough council as a Liberal Democrat councilor of one of the eight districts comprising Reading Borough. He is also one of the founders of The Forgotten British Gurkha Charity, which is now about to undertake a campaign to orient and assist the ex-British Gurkhas settling in Reading.
Beard was elected mayor on May 20, 2008. At the first councilors´ meeting held six weeks into his mayoralty, the agenda of ex-British Gurkhas arose out of the blue. "Some guys with yellow ribbons attended the meeting inauguration ceremony. I came to know that they were Gurkhas living in Reading. While the ceremony was going on, a councilor suddenly stood up and proposed a resolution for the rights of ex-British Gurkhas," he recalled. "Nobody said ´No´."
"Afterwards, I was made aware of some Gurkhas who were living in pretty poor conditions in my town. I was able and pleased to have persons that provided accommodation and support for them," he told myrepublica.com. "Right then, a friend of mine who had been in the army with the Gurkhas was working to set up a charity which I also joined."
Peter Beard´s father fought in the Second World War. That connection led him to read and learn a lot about the Gurkhas. After the council meeting passed a unanimous resolution, he developed much concern for the Gurkhas and wrote to some 120 councils all over the UK to join the cause. Eighty of them replied quite positively, with most of them confirming that Gurkhas resided in their territories and assuring that they would readily do whatever was needful. "That worked to sensitize the entire country to raise voices for the Gurkhas," he said.
Beard´s charity organization has set up a contact office in Reading and is to have one in Kathmandu also. He says a hostel that accommodates Gurkhas for around five pounds a day for a month--by then, they will supposedly make their way into settlement-- is being set up in a building previously used by as a nursing home. The organization will work with the Gurkhas from filling the forms in Kathmandu to the long schedule after reaching there. "Nepali volunteers will receive them in Reading airport. They will stay in the hostel; they will have bank accounts; we will help them find jobs," he explained. "Most importantly, we will help them deal with the bureaucracy and subscribe to health facilities. We expect the first group to arrive around October."
The Forgotten British Gurkha Charity is working with a wing of the United British Gurkha Ex-army Association (UBGEA) to operate in both Nepal and the UK. "Our charge is quite nominal, and it will also be used for the beneficiaries," said UBGEA executive member Rajen Raj Rai. "Our single objective is not to let the Gurkhas encounter trouble after reaching the UK."
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