The Swindon Cup – a multi-sports (football and volleyball) UK Nepali community annual event

In the course of the UK Nepali community cultural & social heritage project we were privileged to work closely with the Nepalese Association of Wiltshire (NAW), in the course of this engagement we learned of the fact that although not on the scale of the Gurkha Cup or Nepal Cup, the Swindon and North Wiltshire Nepali community had from 2007 initiated its own annual sports celebration, with the Swindon Cup at its heart.  Ms Bura Rana (NAW General Secretary)

Nepalese come together for annual Swindon Cup

… on Saturday as the Nepalese Association of Wiltshire held its annual Swindon Cup competition.

The event, which took place at Buckhurst Park Community Centre, saw football teams and ladies volleyball players come together for a day of food and sport in the summer sunshine.

Organiser Manju Bura, 27, from Stratton, said: “The Swindon Cup started in 2007 as a community barbecue to bring people together.

We thought it would be a good, easy way to get people out for some summer fun and it’s always a really popular event.”

“Since then it has gown and grown each year with different sports teams taking part. We don’t have as many this year as we’d like, but it should still be a great day.”

Medals and trophies were presented to the winners later in the day and there was a wide selection of food to sample throughout.

Organisers said around 200 people to attended most of whom came from the town’s Nepalese community.

The day’s main event was the women’s volleyball tournament and it was only the second time the sport had been hosted.

Maita Limbu, 51, said: “This year is unlike previous years because we’ve had a few restrictions with football pitches. There are so many other programmes going on this weekend that we struggled to attract teams from outside, so we decided to make it more ‘in-house’ and bring everyone from Swindon’s Nepalese community together.

“Ladies volleyball has taken priority this year and we want to get everybody here to have a great day.

“We are serving food and offering people the chance to watch some good games of football and volleyball.”

The Nepalese Association of Wiltshire, which started in 2006, is based in Swindon and the majority of Nepalese people arrived in the town after 2005 when the government decided to give permanent settlement to some Gurkhas.

The association is also designed to help Nepalese people newly arrived in the UK to cope providing information on transport facilities and where to go for certain things.

Source:  https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/14668696.nepalese-come-together-for-annual-swindon-cup/

An exceptional development in regard to football and the Swindon & North Wiltshire community also took place in 2019 through the UKNFS and NAW in conjunction with Wiltshire FA and Swindon Town FC.  Although the origins of this initiative, a new football festival, came into being as a positive response to racism experienced by the local Nepali-Gurkha and broader Asian and BAME communities (https://uknfs.org/uknfs-support-to-our-swindon-nepali-gurkha-community-in-face-of-experience-of-community-wide-racist-asb-2/).  This ground-breaking football festival –https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/17800023.pictures-swindon-youngsters-first-try-new-3g-football-pitch-shadow-county-ground/ — saw an unprecedented 33% BAME communities members and two-fifths girls as players. 

An outstanding success of the Nepali community in conjunction with football, building new links and changing the face of football to boost gender equality and racial inclusion, in diversity celebration, originally through Ms Bura Rana and Alan Mercel-Sanca joining the Wiltshire FA Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG) that was initiated by Mr Oliver Selfe, CEO of Wiltshire FA as a direct response to the blight of unchallenged anti-Nepali-Gurkha attacks that the year opened with. 

The culture of football being a world where diversity was celebrated and all were united in love of ‘the Beautiful Game’ in a shared humanity and love for sport.   Councillor Junab Ali, Swindon’s first Bangladeshi mayor, praised the diversity drive:

 “For far too long institutions like the FA have said they want all this, but in reality nothing has been done. It’s been a token gesture.  “But this time, Oliver Selfe and the Wiltshire FA have really taken it on. They’ve come up with the goods.”

Source:  https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/17800023.pictures-swindon-youngsters-first-try-new-3g-football-pitch-shadow-county-ground/ 

Football as a mechanism for integration and youth development:

The founder of the Gurkha Cup explained in an interview to the UKNFS, at the time of the Gurkha Cup 2019 that the Cup/Tournament’s origins in fact lay in the need for Nepali community members, beyond Nepali-Gurkha community members in active service within the context of the Brigade of Gurkhas within the British Army, to ensure non-military UK Nepali youth have wholesome sports & physical activity structures in their lives.  This to keep them away from contemporary UK youth society perils such as heavy drinking and dangers of drugs.  In this the Gurkha Cup has been a phenomenal success with hundreds of UK Nepali youth taking part, and football becoming a part of their daily/weekly lifestyles. 

As such sport, and football especially, have been playing dynamic parts in the lives of hundreds of UK Nepali, especially Nepali-Gurkha family members, young persons and in fact connecting them with their broader UK Nepali community in the most meaningful daily living and sharing of culture (linked back strongly to Nepal itself in regards to sport/football) ways. 

On the challenges of integration, the indigenous British have in the domain of football been reaching out as well to younger members of the UK Nepali community, in the core location of settlement in the UK, Farnborough – Aldershot, as the following BBC news report, detailed below, evidences:

Aldershot football team helps Nepalese integration

A Hampshire youth worker has started a football team involving Nepalese and British-born players in a bid to promote integration in Aldershot.

Three years ago many Gurkhas were given the right to settle in the UK following a high-profile campaign by actress Joanna Lumley.

Since 2009, many Nepalese families with Gurkha connections have moved to north Hampshire because of its links to the military and its established Nepali community.

Now a tenth of the population of Aldershot and its surrounding area is believed to be made up of Nepalis and the area has become known locally as “Little Nepal”.

The influx has caused repeated clashes between locals and newly arrived Nepalese teenagers, according to youth workers.

Last summer, the police set up a dispersal order in Manor Park, which allowed them to move on any groups of youths involved in anti-social behaviour.

Richard Cooper formed United Rushmoor following clashes in and around Aldershot

Nepalese teenager Bishal Gurung agreed there were problems in the community.

“If the community wants to put their hands out to be friends, we will be the first to put our hands out.

“This is a whole new country for us, and it’s not like home.

“To make new friends, this is what we want.”

Now youth worker Richard Cooper has started up a football team, called United Rushmoor.

Nepalese and British-born white teenagers came together in mid-January to play their first friendly match in mixed teams.

Further events involving both communities, including cricket, drama and basketball will also be held by the club over the coming months.

Mr Cooper said: “It’s been a tough couple of years. The pressure on local resources has been tough whether you are Nepali or non-Nepali, but things have turned around in the last couple of weeks.”

Mikka Thakali took part in the football match.

He said: “We play together, Nepali and white people, and we make friendship more so there won’t be any trouble in our own town.”

A further step towards integration will hopefully be taken this Saturday, when a Best of Both event will take place from midday until 17:00 GMT at the KC21 building in Aldershot.

Traditional food such as curry and momos will be on offer along with music, markets and dancing to showcase positive aspects of Nepali and British culture.

Source (31 January 2012):  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-16796228

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