The Southall Community Alliance (SCA) arranged the first Southall Community Awards Evening on Friday 10th December 2021 at the Tudor Rose in Southall.

The aim of the Awards Evening was to present awards to Southall‘s unsung heroes, heroines and inspiring role models. This included volunteers, individuals, community groups, businesses, community leaders of the past and present. It was to recognise the great work these people have been doing in Southall.

There was a huge turnout at a fantastic venue thanks to the Tudor Rose colleagues, Ursula, Velma and Team.

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The awards were presented to a broad range of people very much in keeping with our multicultural Southall, including Ealing Young Champions, Active Communities Team, DICE, Mael Gael, Clarence Baker, Anita Puri, Peter Sylvester, Dalawar Chaudhary and so many more excellent and worthy nominees.

Some of the award presenters included:

• Cllr Munir Ahmed, Mayor of Ealing
• Paul Najsarek, Ealing Council Chief Executive
• Cllr Mohinder Midha, Deputy Mayor of Ealing
• Harsev Bains, SCA Chair
• Velma Cooke, Tudor Rose

There was also had an insightful contribution from Cllr Jasbir Anand. The Awards Evening was supported and/or sponsored by Tudor Rose, Catalyst Housing, Chana Chemist, Mehak Travel Club and MG Beers.

It was a lovely evening that received overwhelmingly positive feedback from people attending. The Southall Community Alliance hopes that this can become an annual fixture in the community calendar, so that we can applaud Southall’s great volunteers and activists on a regular basis.

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There award winners in the 5 categories were:

Category 1 - Southall’s Best

• Ealing Young Champions - young people have come together to tackle the issues that they face e.g. campaign to save the Young Adults Centre in Southall from demolition. Obtained 1500 signatures for the petition.

Category 2 - Young Southall Award

• Jatinder Kaur - spent most of her time volunteering and working tirelessly during the pandemic to support individuals and families in Southall.
• Ben Nwokocha - one of the ‘hidden gems’ of Southall. Works with young people on or near the Havelock Estate. Ben was instrumental in making the Southall Food Hub a success.
• Daljit Singh Grewal BEM - project co-ordinator of the Mael Gael Multicultural Community Project based at Norwood Hall
• Juma Abdullahi - Head of Sport at Featherstone Sports Centre & Featherstone School Sports Partnership.
• Anjuna Kalsi - Anjuna helped to set up Migrant Advisory & Advocacy Service.
• Ragini Patel - showed extraordinary energy and compassion during the pandemic. Working with the Southall Food Hub, at soup kitchens and other volunteering opportunities.
• Rabia Cornelius - a well-respected, pro-active member of the Dormers Wells/local community
• Alice Dunn – Dormers Wells High School teacher who supported with the packing and delivery of food to the Southall Community
• Gursharan Dhaliwal - supported the students at Dormers Wells High School but also help pack and deliver food for the Southall Food Hub.

Category 3 - Team of the Year

• Active Communities Team - ‘Let’s Go Southall’ community project to increase physical activity to address a major factor causing ill health in Southall.
• Sulaiman Iqbal - Team UPside have shown genuine passion for the young people on Havelock Estate and Southall by offering free online GCSE/A-Level tuition young people.
• Diabetes Integrated Care Ealing (DICE) - team of diabetes specialists and experts who are committed to their work in the community.
• Havelock Primary School - the energetic school team, led by Dr Clare Rees - for their efforts to help parents and community in the Havelock area.
• Southall Black Sisters - a not-for-profit, secular and inclusive organisation, established in 1979 to meet the needs of Black (Asian and African-Caribbean) women.
• Mael Gael - Staffed entirely by a team of volunteers, Mael Gael is an elderly and youth project based at Norwood Hall in Southall serving all sections of the community. Their Covid19 team worked tirelessly throughout the lockdown period provide vital provisions and food to those in need. The group has recently received a Queens Awards for Voluntary service
• Southall Food Hub - established in April 2020 by the Young Ealing Foundation and SCA working together at the Young Adults Centre in Southall. It provided food, educational and emergency supplies to individuals and families in need during lockdown. It provided over 40,000 meals. The Hub is now based at St John’s Church providing an invaluable service to people from all backgrounds facing food poverty
• Desi Radio - The Panjabi Centre promotes Panjabi culture, language and history. One of their projects is Desi Radio, a Panjabi radio station led by volunteers

Category 4 - Community Business Award

• Dalawar Chaudhry - someone who helps others. Dalawar’s organisation, Chaudhry’s TKC, supplied over 10,000 FREE meal boxes to the front line NHS staff. Chaudhry’s TKC have also supported food banks in the borough.
• Palvinder Singh - the owner of Kulcha Express is a long standing contributor to the Mael Gael Multicultural Community Project. Kulcha Express provided food help for many residents in Southall during the pandemic

Category 5 - Leadership and Inspiration Award

• Panjabi Theatre Academy - connects the South Asian community to its roots through various art forms such as dance and acting for theatre.
• Late Mr Sudarshan Bhatia - was the president of Vishwa Hindu Kendra, Southall. A humble and helpful man who had the quality of serving the community.
• Willis Wilkie – was a Southall resident who created a supplementary schools system with his wife Edna and others. They recruited a team of volunteer teachers to hold extra lessons for those struggling at school.
• The late Peter Sylvester - played an active part in the Afro-Caribbean community; from running youth clubs and family orientated events to campaigning for locals to continue accessing community spaces.
• Clarence Baker - grew up in Southall. He was the manager of the roots reggae band Misty in Roots and formed the People Unite Musicians Cooperative. In 1979 Clarence was severely beaten and injured by the police during a protest in Southall against the National Front.
• Anita Puri - Headteacher at Blair Peach Primary School since 1993 and has given over 29 years of dedicated and loyal service to the school and the local community.
• The late Vishnu Dutt Sharma - one of the founding members of the Indian Workers Association (IWA) in Southall in 1956. A key activist and campaigner for the rights of workers and communities in Southall, Mr Sharma hails from a generation who laid the foundations for future activism.

Miriam Rice, Councillor for Northolt Mandeville in Ealing, said “A privilege to be there as the Southall Community Alliance gave appreciation to so many fantastic volunteers and community champions tonight at their awards ceremony.”

“Truly inspiring how so many pulled together during the pandemic.”

Photos of the event can be found on the SCA Facebook page