Community Services
Welfare Rights Advice
The Welfare Rights Advice and Information services which has been provided by the Centre since its establishment, is delivered to users through drop-ins as well as on appointment basis from Monday to Friday between 10am and 5pm. During drop-ins sessions, clients are assisted with filling in of various benefit forms. The problems dealt with include family credit, pensions, disability allowance, child tax credit, Council tax, housing benefit including housing and re-housing problems. Clients are also helped with advice on general issues.
Multi-lingual Medical Advice
The Centre provides advice and information on health matters to members of the community. These are done during regular advice sessions held on every Sunday in the afternoon by an experienced female Doctor. 111 people were helped with advice on medical issues during the period.
Library and Information Service
The Centre’s Library and Information Service provides materials, resource and information on Bangladeshi culture, history, heritage, art and literature.
Community Education
The Centre’s Community Education programme includes the teaching of the Bengali and English languages, Art, Music, Dance and Drama to Bangladeshi children and adults. The language Classes are held on every Sunday from 10am to 1pm and the Music and Drama Classes are held on the same day in the afternoon.
Elderly Project
The Centre’s Elderly Project has been in operation for the Bengali elderly community in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea for several years now. The Centre does not receive any funding for this Project from any outside avenues. But because of its deep commitment and respect to the elderly, it regularly holds a get-together for them following every Friday prayer where they meet their peers and recollect memories of the past, thus to provide them with a free and relaxed atmosphere (Average 50 elderly people attend).
Hostel Accommodation
The Centre’s Hostel facility provides short-term accommodation to new arrivals, particularly students from Bangladesh, at a subsidised rental cost. The hostel provided accommodation to 1,494 since it was started.
Women Project
Bangladeshi women members of the Centre play a very significant role in different socio-cultural events and activities at the Centre. They organise cultural functions and activities involving artists from the community in order to help younger generation of the community learn about their culture, identity and heritage.
Cultural Events
The Centre promotes cultural activities by organising various important events such as, Bangladesh Victory Day, Independence Day, Bengali New Years Day (BaishakhiMela).
The Centre also observes the Martyrs’ Day and the International Mother Language Day in commemoration of the 1952 Bengali Language Movement, on the 21st February every year.
The purpose of the celebration of important events is to educate and enlighten the younger generation of the Bengali Culture, tradition and history. During the year, 13 events were organised by the Centre.
Future Development
Heritage Centre Of Excellence
The Bangladesh Centre aims to create a Heritage Centre of Excellence (HCE), which will be a magnet for the Bangladeshi community from across the UK and beyond. The aim is to accommodate a range of services and facilities that will reflect the interests of all (young people, elderly, women etc). This vision involves a seamless range of services all found under one roof providing a one stop shop for both the Bangladeshi and non-Bangladeshi community. This will give the Centre flexibility, the potential to adapt quickly to changing needs in of the Bangladeshi community and the ability to ensure that new generations of young people who are born and brought up in the UK are able to benefit from specialist range of services aimed at educating them of their history, culture, traditions and values.
The HCE will:
- Encourage a clustering of support provision within one building where people can access a wide portfolio of high quality projects ensuring seamless support across history, culture, training and education and life skills support.
- Provide a targeted out-reach programme to organizations providing guidance and support to the Bangladeshi Community.
- Undertake Capacity Building to improve quality standards and service provision within Bangladeshi led community and voluntary sector organizations.
- Provide affordable workshop, seminar and conference facilities enabling organizations from across the UK to work together to support the Bangladeshi community by sharing good practice.
- Engage the Bangladeshi community directly to help design and develop services and facilities that will better meet their needs and help support Local Authorities, Police, Primary Care Trusts etc in developing better ways to engage the Bangladeshi Community.
- Work with future generations of young Bangladeshi people and develop a specific leadership programme that will help train young people to take ownership of and play a strategic role in the preservation and development of the Bangladeshi heritage and promote and educate other communities.
- Provide a multi media training suite for people to gain experience in radio, video, music and design.
- Become a recognised example of good practice on all aspects of provision on a local, national and international level with results and success stories being promoted on the website at conferences & seminars
Development Plans
Phase 1: Building Works
In order to ensure the best use of space possible the internal layout of the existing building will be gutted in part and reorganised in order to provide a central reception area, space for projects, open flexible space for hire, managed work space and seminar and conference facility and finally up five high quality residential units to support exchange and short term letting facilities.
Lower Ground Floor:
Will house the vast majority of the conference, seminar and workshop facilities. It will be supported with a purpose built kitchen to accommodate catering needs of large gatherings. It will also provide space for exhibitions and a reference library.
Ground Floor:
Will provide an open and welcoming entrance to the building with a new entrance canopy leading into a triple height light well.
The reception area will be home to key staff working for the Bangladesh Centre as well as toilets and a waiting area for people visiting projects. A large hall will take up the second half of the Ground floor and will include a small kitchen area. A larger improved hall capable of seating 150 people that can be used for variety of purposes.
First Floor:
To provide office space for up to six projects which, will be used for educational, heritage and cultural projects. Communal areas will be available on this floor, and will include a small meeting space / interview rooms and toilets.
Second Floor:
Will provide five offices, an open flexible space for hire or for use by organisations based within the building. Communal areas will include seating and tea-making facilities, toilets and storage.
Third Floor:
A mezzanine floor, in an area which is presently used for accommodation will be redesigned to include the roof void of the Centre and opened up to enlarge the space and create up five high quality accommodation units the floor will also have toilets and storage space.
Phase 2: Rear Development
Phase 2 will see a brand new extension in order to accommodate the hostel facility which the Centre has been providing since its establishment. The new facility will have the capacity to accommodate up to 30 individuals with high quality kitchen and toilets facilities.
Accessibility:
In its present state the Centre is an inaccessible building and there is a clear recognition that the centre desperately needs to improve its facilities in order to encourage a larger user group.
User Involvement
An important element of developing the Heritage Centre of Excellence proposal was the clear recognition that current services are not fully meeting the needs of the Bangladeshi communities and there is a gap in quality provision. The HCE will encourage a clustering of support provision and help develop a better synergy between key services.
For more information please contact us at the details below:
Bangladesh Centre London
24 Pembridge Gardens
London W2 4DX
T: 020 7229 9404
F: 020 7229 5197
info@bangladeshcentre.org
www.bangladeshcentre.org