News from Thurrock Asian Association

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.

This year the AGM of the Association will be held on Sunday 18th September, 2011 from 6.30 to 8 pm at the T.A.A Resource Centre , 35 Clarence Road, Grays. A nomination form is enclosed with this news letter for you to nominate officers and the committee members for the next year. The completed nomination form should be sent to the Secretary, Mr. Mitra, 7 Bradleigh Avenue, Grays RM 17 5XD by Friday 9th September, 2011. We are looking forward to welcome new volunteers on the Committee to progress further the work of the Association. At the AGM the annual accounts will be presented with reports from officers and the election of new Committee Members for next year will take place. PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN THE WORK OF YOUR ASSOCIATION.

DIWALI CELEBRATIONS.

This year DIWALI will be celebrated with all communities in the Thameside Theatre on Saturday 12th November, 2011 from 6 to 9 pm. The preparations are already under way to make this a very enjoyable evening.

Anyone interested to take part in the cultural programme should contact Meena Mitra, Diljot Gulshan or any member of the Committee. The price of the tickets will be the same as for the last two years; £6 for adults and £3 for children under 11 including refreshments.The tickets will be available from the Box Office or from the Committee Members from 18th September, 2011. YOUR FULL SUPPORT WILL BE NEEDED TO MAKE THIS EVENT A GREAT SUCCESS LIKE PREVIOUS YEARS.

BAISAKHI FUNCTION.

We celebrated the Baisakhi Function at the T.A.A Resource Centre on 17th April, 2011 which was attended by 100 local residents including the Deputy Mayor of the Council and a number of other Councillors and the representatives of various local communities including the Sikhs and Gurkhas. The participants enjoyed Indian dancing and Music and everyone enjoyed the food tasting session. The food was prepared by various communities living in Thurrock. Cllr Tunde Ojetola the Deputy Mayor said,’ This is one of the best community cohesion events and is well organised by Thurrock Asian Association. Everyone has enjoyed the music,dancing and the variety of foods’.

CELEBRATION OF ROYAL WEDDING;

Thurrock Asian Association celebrated the famous ROYAL WEDDING at the Association’s Resource Centre on Friday 29th April, 2011. More than a hundred members and local residents participated in this joyous celebratory event. The participants brought different home made cakes and enjoyed eating different foods from different nationalities. The event ended with dancing and singing. Every one had a wonderful time.

HEALTHY LIVING PROGRAMME FOR OLDER PEOPLE.

With the help of South West Essex PCT we launched this programme in June, 2009 which is still continuing. Mr. Gajanan Pawar our Yoga Teacher takes Yoga Class on every Saturday from 12 to 1 pm at the T.A.A. Resource Centre. We have also set up some equipment for physical exercises in the Centre. Two workers from the TRUST are taking groups of men and women separately to follow this programme of healthy living. Once a month on Saturdays the clinicians from Health come to the T.A.A Centre and discuss issues with the participants. The attendance to YOGA CLASS and the use of GYM apparatus are free to everyone. For further information contact Casie on 01375- 404917 or myself or Mr. Mitra.

BOLLY WOOD DANCING CLASS

This group of young dancers are getting regular lessons from a professional teacher and meet on Tuesday from 8 to 9 pm at the Grays School. They have been performing on various occasions at different community cohesion events in the Borough. Their funding finished at the end of last year. In January this year we had a meeting with the children and their parents. It was agreed that the parents will contribute towards the rent of the Hall at the Grays School and the Association will contribute towards the tuition fee. There will be fortnightly class instead of weekly. They will be performing at the coming Diwali Function at the Tameside Theatre on 1 2th November, 2011. I am pleased to inform you that we have been able to get some grant form the Council’s youth service to support this class by the end of this year. We are very grateful for this timely help.

Any one interested to join this class should contact Diljot; 01375-381486.

MUSIC CLASS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN.

This class is going on well under the Tutorship of Mr. R Ghulshan, a professional tutor who takes this class of boys and girls at the Grays School on Wednesday from 4 to 6 pm. The Association runs this class in collaboration with the Thurrock Music Service. We are looking for young children aged 7 on wards to join this class. Please contact Mr. Gulshan ( Giani Ji) on 01375- 381486 if you would like your young child to learn any Indian Musical Instruments such as; Harmonium; Tabla; Dholak etc;

ADULT MUSIC CLASS;

This class welcomes anyone who is interested in learning and enjoying the Asian musical instruments like Harmonium, Tabla, Dholak, Sitar etc and social singing of classical and modern Indian songs. We meet twice a month on Wednesdays from 11 to 1 pm. The lessons and the fun are all free. For further information please contact Mr. Mitra or myself.

This group of adult musicians also perform on our Diwali Function. Join us in this fun class.

IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH OF ASIAN MEN AND WOMEN.

Farhat from the TRUST in her new role organises groups of men and women for promoting mental health. The women’s group also meets regularly on Thursdays from 1 to 3 with the Women’s Development Worker from the TRUST and men’s group meets on Mondays from 1 to 3 pm. Any one interested to join these groups should contact; 01375—385316. These Groups are useful for socialising and learning new skills. These are free for Thurrock residents.

The new Development Worker supported by the Housing Department will start helping people from the Resource Centre soon. We are discussing this issue with the Manager of the TRUST.

NEPALESE CLASSES FOR CHILDREN;

From January this year the centre is used for this group on each Saturday morning from 10 to 11.30 am. The children learn their language and their culture. The class is run by the Thurrock Nepalese Association.

T.A.A Resource Centre is very well used by various community groups and individuals for learning, socialising and getting information about other services available to the local residents. Casie Cheong works hard to help anyone visiting the Centre.

THERE IS A GOOD STOCK OF LIBRARY BOOKS IN THE CENTRE GIVEN BY

THE LOCAL LIBRARY ON VARIOUS ASIAN LANGUAGES. THESE BOOKS CAN BE BORROWED FOR READING FROM CASIE.

THURROCK ASIAN ASSOCIATION WORKS VERY CLOSELY WITH VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF THE COUNCIL, LOCAL POLICE AND THE PCT. WE ALSO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS FOR PROMOTING COMMUNITY WELL-BEING AND COMMUNITY COHESION. PLEASE CONTINUE SUPPORTING YOUR ASSOCIATION IN THEIR WORK. WE WELCOME VOLUNTEERS.

YASH GUPTA