A Hindu temple’s grand opening will be marked with donation of £30,000 to a hospice charity.

The Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury grand opening festival will start today with a parade through central London.

At the opening next week, the temple’s spiritual leader will present a cheque to St Luke’s Hospice, collected during months of fundraising.

In the build up to the week of festivities, members of the temple community have been taking part in events across the country throughout the year to raise money for the hospice in Kenton Grange.

This has included 14 members taking part in the Great North Swim in Lake Windermere in the Lake District and another 16 people taking part in St Luke’s annual skydive.

For the final day of celebrations for the opening, on Saturday August 23 from 4pm, there will be a parade from St Luke’s Hospice to the new temple with dhol drummers, costumed dancers and the temple's own Scottish Pipe Band.