Supporters and school children packed Ealing Town Hall on Friday (March 21) in support of a charity determined to end the torture of elephants in Asia.

Save The Asian Elephant (STAE), a campaign group started by lifelong Ealing resident Duncan McNair, had organised an artwork competition in a bid to raise the awareness of elephant abuse in Asia.

More than 80 state primary schools across the borough took part, submitting artwork, poems and essays, with winners acknowledged at the ceremony.

TV presenter Linda Barker and actress Rula Lenska were also in attendance along with Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Harbhajan Kaur Dheer, and MPs Rupa Huq and Virendra Sharma.

MEPs, Lords, conservationist Ian Redmond OBE and author Stanley Johnson also made an appearance to support the charity, which relies solely on donations.

Another winning piece of artwork submitted

The charities CEO, Mr McNair, said: "It went very well and there was a huge attendance, it packed out the whole hall.

"This is a wrong that has been done by man and this is a wrong that can be corrected by man.

"The constituency we chose for this project is young people because they are not only great ambassadors for the cause – they talk to siblings, parents, grandparents and friends – but they are the future hope for the elephants."

The campaign group, who successfully influenced the Conservative Party's election manifesto pledge to support the Indian government in protecting the Asian elephant, are pushing for changes in elephant tourism.

Mr McNair wants a law whereby UK travel companies cannot advertise elephant tourism abroad unless they can demonstrate, through "good and current" documentary evidence, that elephants at the resort have never been abused and are not currently being abused.

STAE are also pushing for new policies to re-locate abused elephants to safer spots in India, organising UK vets to visit India to transfer skills or to work there permanently and to set up training for "mahouts", managers who work with elephants.

Baby elephants isolated in preparation for brutal beating as part of the pajan "training" process

Prior to the ceremony, former Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Y Thinley, patron of STAE, said: "I am very heartened by the interest of the young citizens and teachers of the United Kingdom in the welfare of the gentle giants.

"Even though the peaceful and harmless elephants are very intelligent and strong, we the human beings have become a threat to their survival."

The population of Asian elephants, declared an endangered species 30 years ago, has declined from more than one million in 1900 to around 40,000 today.

Mr McNair added that among the charities next move will be a meeting with MP Rory Stewart, who is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The support of the MP for Penrith and The Border, Mr McNair said, was key in getting the government to consider STAE's policies.

And the charity, whose petition can be found here , is also lining up a meeting with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson to discuss elephant tourism offered by his company.

MP for Ealing Southall , Virendra Sharma, an STAE board member, said: "The awards were a fantastic event, and congratulations to Duncan and the entire team for organising them.

"The winners did wonderful work and helped create awareness about the terrible plight of Asian Elephants."