There are estimated to be hundreds of dedicated Nepali societies (the Nepali word for a society being ‘Samaj’) in the UK (image above courtesy of Nepalese Association of Wiltshire [NAW] from an Association major meeting in Swindon), with 152 of the main societies & organisations being listed on the Embassy of Nepal website: https://uk.nepalembassy.gov.np/nepalese-organizations-uk/
These societies (‘samaj’) range from Nepali doctors and nurses associations, to university Nepali societies, Nepali academic research groups (such as the BNAC and CNSUK, referred to above) through specific village group societies (such as the Chaar Banjyang Tamu Samaj: literally Four Gurung village Society), to ethnicity specific (such as Tamu Dhee Association UK — literally ‘Gurung Home’ Association UK – which is the overarching Gurung peoples’ organisation, and the Sherpa Association UK.
There are other Samaj such as Sahara UK Association ( ‘Sahara’ meaning ‘Support’). These often link to major activities, such as associations with sports or sports promotion in both countries (Sahara UK and Tamu Dhee UK are good examples of this where football is concerned), and larger scale charitable undertakings (such as building or maintaining schools) back in Nepal.
Then there are women’s groups, specific cultural activity (such as dance) related groups, and a small number of non-ethnicity age gender location specific Samaj, such as Greater Rushmoor Nepali Community (GRNC) and the Nepalese Association of Wiltshire (NAW) – models for new emerging comparable all sections and members of Nepali society specific to a given UK location (such as in Birmingham).
These latter umbrella ‘all sections of society’ organisations play the most important role in terms of assisting integration, as they both provide community cultural related support across all the different UK Nepali communities ethnicities (GRNC itself for example supports separate independent groups that run Nepali ladies dance sessions, Nepali language classes (Rushmoor Nepali ladies dance group image below), or Nepali film clubs, and interface with the given local authority, local councillors, public service organisations on the integration, safety and safeguarding needs of both established and especially new settling community members on rights and responsibilities.
There are approximately six Gurkha welfare and rights organisations in the UK ranging from the Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT), to the British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS) to GESO (British Gurkha Ex-servicemen’s Organisation). These organisations provide dedicated support and often campaigning initiatives on retired Nepali Gurkha community needs and issues, such as settlement issues and pensions.
Typical functions and aspects of UK Nepali community societies and associations activity and social and cultural interaction include, but are not limited to:
Award winning, giving donations / fundraising, communal banquets, cultural music and dance displays, performances and participation. In some instances they also facilitate major outdoor events with sometimes 10,000 attendees, such as the Nepali Mela, Buddha Jayanti in Trafalgar Square (both of these by the Embassy of Nepal), The Gurkha Cup (Tamu Dhee Association UK), the Swindon Cup. On the latter (Swindon Cup), the organiser, the Nepalese Association of Wiltshire (NAW) have contributed the following description to us for this section of the information resource:
Swindon Cup
Nepalese Association of Wiltshire, established in 2006 came to organise a sports event the following year in 2007, known as “Swindon Cup”. This event allows for the participation of male football teams and both female and male volleyball teams. The team needs to register in advance in order to participate (nepaleseassociationofwiltshire.com).
The rationale behind this event is to encourage Nepalese youths of not only Swindon but the whole of UK to involve themselves within the Nepalese community. Essentially, it is a way to ensure the Nepalese youths in the UK stay in touch with their cultural heritage while engaging in an enjoyable event.
Understandably, this objective has been considerably extended in the past years to also include other purposes. In particular, this event has provided a platform for the implementation of charity work for the benefit of Nepalese people not only in the UK but also back in Nepal; as well as a platform to promote Nepalese businesses etc.
Swindon Cup therefore, primarily being a platform for the connection between the Nepalese youth and the Nepalese community, has become a platform for Nepalese people in the UK as a whole to stay connected with their cultural heritage.
Gyan Gurung: NAW President