Page 154 - WHO'S WHO OF DUDLEY ROTARY

515 Christopher (‘Chris’) R[eginald?] WILSDON (1951- ) (Inducted 12.5.1986; left May 1987.)
Building Societies. Manager of the National & Provincial Building Society branch in Stone Street,
Dudley following the transfer of Keith Jackson (club member #496) to Yorkshire. During this
short period he lived at Swindon near Wombourne. He grew up and worked in Lytham St Annes,
Lancashire before coming to Dudley and has returned there.

516 Rev. Donald Henry GREEN (1931-2017) (Inducted 12.5.1986; left in July 1990.) Parish priest.
Curate of St Barnabas Church, Middlepark Road on the Russells Hall
Estate, Dudley from 1985. Born in south London he moved to St Albans
as a young man, then trained as a teacher at Cambridge University. After
doing two years National Service he worked first as a teacher in St Albans
and Bromsgrove, and then as a teacher training lecturer in the Midlands.
He was ordained in his 50s. St Barnabas, Dudley was his first post. He
retired about 1994 and moved to Knighton, Shropshire on the Welsh
border. (In fact his house stands in England but half the garden is in
Wales!) He regularly took services at St Edward’s church, Knighton, until
he turned 80.

517 Vasanampalli Pancharathnam Narayan RAO (1935- ) (Inducted 14.7.1986;
still a member at 2022.) General medical practice. He operated a single-
handed GP practice at Great Bridge, Tipton from 1972 until retiring in 2000
and was a board member of successive local medical management bodies
- Sandwell Local Medical Committee, Sandwell Medical Council, and
Sandwell Primary Care Group - from 1978 to 2001. He was a local pioneer
in introducing health screening for common conditions such as
hypertension; child health clinics; physiotherapy; acupuncture; yoga; and
developing the role of non-medical staff in the management of primary
care.
He was born in Madras (now Chennai), India and retains his Indian nationality. His passion
for medicine started as a teenager while he was a student at Madras Christian College: he
volunteered every Saturday and during school holidays (1950 to 51) at a Leprosy colony with the
Student Christian movement. He moved on to Madras Medical College where, in 1952, he and
a colleague founded the College Social Service Wing, an activity that continues to this day. He
organised medical students and newly qualified doctors to provide free basic medical treatment
to rural areas of Tamil Nadu every Sunday and larger camps during holidays to tackle major
health issues such as hook worm screening and treatment.
He is a leading Hindu in Britain, with an international reputation, and has been recognised
with numerous honours, including: Outstanding Community Service award (1997) presented by
the High Commissioner of India; ‘Ugadi Puraskar’ (New Year Award) for Religious Activities
Abroad (1998) presented by the Vice President of India; the Telugu Association of London Life
Time Achievement Award 2011; and the Women’s Interfaith Network Ambassador of Peace
award (2014). He chaired the steering committee that led to the formation of the Hindu Council
UK in 1994 and served as a Director/Trustee from 2006 and Chairman 2009-13. He has been
Chairman and Trustee from 1988 to 2016 of the Shri Venkateswara Balaji Temple in Tividale,
Sandwell, which has grown to become the largest Hindu temple in Europe and is recognised as
one of the leading Hindu institutions in the world. He was also instrumental in establishing and
managing other major Hindu centres including the Archway Temple and Highgate Hill Murugan
Temple in London, and the Geeta Bhawan Mandir in Handsworth, Birmingham.
From the 1970s he has been a pioneer in interfaith dialogue, beginning with the Multi-Faith
Resource Unit at Selly Oak College. He was a Director of the Inter Faith Network for the United
Kingdom from 2003 to 2011 and its Vice chairman in 2006. His Balaji temple site at Tividale
includes seven Faith hills created to represent the unity between seven major faiths in the