The Swadhinata Trust Projects
New Bengali Heritage Trail 25
We are pleased to share that the new Bengali Heritage Trail is now up on the izi.travel site. The new local heritage walk celebrating Bengali history in East London was launched on 10 August 2025 as part of South Asian Heritage Month and to mark the 25th anniversary of the Swadhinata Trust.
Get Involved: New Bengali Photo Archive
Bengali Photo Archive
Call for Submissions + Volunteers
Do you want be part of creating a new collection celebrating East London’s Bengali community life?
Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point
Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point is a major new heritage project exploring the May 1978 anti-racist uprising organised by the Bengali community around Brick Lane.
With the help of local volunteers and original activists, Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point investigates how and why this watershed moment unfolded.
Bengali Music Oral History
This oral history project will aim to document multi-generational experiences of Bengali music in Britain, and examples of the music itself.
Defending Bangladeshi bloggers under threat
Secular humanist bloggers, activists, publishers, university lecturers, members of minority community & foreign nationals are being systematically targeted by religious extremists in Bangladesh.
Social learning about Covid-19
Social learning about COVID-19 vulnerability and social distancing in high density populations: the case of UK urban dwelling Bangladeshis.
Voices of The Bengal Famine
Would you like to share stories and experiences from yourself, your ancestors or your community as part of a new cultural project? If so, we want to hear from you!
Defending Bangladeshi bloggers under threat
Secular humanist bloggers, activists, publishers, university lecturers, members of minority community & foreign nationals are being systematically targeted by religious extremists in Bangladesh. Ananta Bijoy Das was murdered. He wrote blogs for Mukto-Mona, a website once moderated by US citizen Avijit Roy, himself hacked to death in February 2015
One Tower Hamlets for All
Minority communities residing in the UK have had many labels imposed on them since their arrival in large numbers in the 1960s and ’70s. In recent years there has been a focus on faith, so those once identified as ‘Asians’ are now described in religious terms.
Oral History Project: Tales of three generations of Bengalis in Britain
Tales of three generations of Bengalis in the UK: Bengali Oral History Project
September 2005 – August 2006
There are approximately 500,000 Bengalis currently living in the UK.
The Pickle Project
Brick Lane is home to our social enterprise, the Pickle Project. By immersing people in an area with real culture, history and interesting people, we are able to provide unique learning opportunities for companies that want to develop, entertain and inspire people.
Tower Hamlets Bengali Heritage Trail : Bengalis in London’s East End
The Bengali Heritage Trail around Tower Hamlets will unlock the history of Britain’s first Bengali settlers, seamen known as Lascars, and will connect key landmarks such as the docks and buildings associated with the seamen who served on British naval and merchant ships from the 17th century onwards. The trail will be described in a booklet made available and online and at a special exhibition and seminar.
Forest Gate Freedom Walk
Join Peter Ashan, a friend of the Swadhinata Trust, for a revealing “Freedom Walk” through Forest Gate. This guided tour explores the neighborhood’s rich history of diversity and the challenges faced in building a multi-ethnic, multi-faith community. Book your spot on Eventbrite to discover the stories of struggle and triumph that have shaped this vibrant area of London.
Voices of East Bank: Tales from East London’s voices
Step into the rich tapestry of East London’s cultural heritage through the Oral Histories section. At the heart of this journey is Cockney Rhyming Slang, a linguistic treasure trove that’s both a starting point and a vibrant thread in the fabric of a diverse community.
Publishing is Power: Gathering!
Julie Begum, chair of Swadhinata Trust will be discussing the following with a panel of speakers including Denise Jones (Brick Lane Books), Sanjida Alam (Tower Hamlets Local Library and Archives) and Vanessa Pike (ELCAF) at Publishing is Power at Brick Lane Books 16th November 2022.
Writeidea festival 2022
Julie Begum, chair of Swadhinata Trust will be discussing the following with a panel of speakers including Denise Jones (Brick Lane Books), Sanjida Alam (Tower Hamlets Local Library and Archives) and Vanessa Pike (ELCAF) at Publishing is Power at Brick Lane Books 16th November 2022.
Julie Begum contributes Set our feet on Glory with Journey to Justice
The Banglatown walk and talk is for anybody interested in Bengali migration and settlement in the East End of London. Tue, 15 November 2022, 14:00 – 15:30 GMT
Swadhinata Trust Bangladesh Photo Album
Find out more about Swadhinata Trust Bangladesh Photo Album
Julie Begum chairs discussion with Shahida Rahman at writeidea festival 2022
Julie Begum chairs discussion with Shahida Rahman at writeidea festival 2022.
Shahida was born and raised in Cambridge, UK. Her late father, Abdul Karim moved to Cambridge from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1957. Shahida writes historical fiction, non-fiction and children’s stories
East End Tales in the Secret Chapel
East End Tales in the Secret Chapel: Historic Headlines, Community Action & Memoirs of A Cockney Sikh
Join us for a special evening filled with East End stories in our ‘secret’ Victorian chapel. In this informal event you’ll hear about East London’s history led by East Enders themselves. Find out more
Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point
2023 UPDATES!
The exhibition is booked to tour at Mulberry School from 14-29 Jan, Osmani Centre from 1 Feb-1 May and Brady Centre from 4-29 May, which is very exciting, more info coming soon!
British Bangladeshi Women: Past, Present & Covid
British Bangladeshi Women: Past, Present & Covid (in English only)
This event is brought to you by BritBanglaCovid and supported by Swadhinata Trust to get British Bangladeshi women talk about issues that matter to them.
East End Tales in the Secret Chapel
An evening showcasing forgotten East End history, fantastic views, and fabulous Jewish Jazz in Oxford House\’s atmospheric Victorian chapel.
History walk and trail
Tower Hamlets Council with Swadhinata Trust’s assistance has produced, in September 2004, a Bengali History Walk booklet.
Exploring the 1978 anti-racist uprising led by East London’s Bengali community
PARTNERS
Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point is a collaborative project run by Four Corners and Swadhinata Trust, in partnership with Paul Trevor.
Altab Ali Day: Ceremony of Commemorations
Swadhinata Trust join Altab Ali Day: Ceremony of Commemorations, 4th May 2022, 6pm Altab Ali Park to say a few words of tribute after the wreath laying and poetry recitals
This will be followed by a Talk at the Kobi Nazrul Centre from 7.30pm onwards, where Julie Begum will be one of the guest speakers at this event.
Bengali Community Dinner at BBC Community Centre
Bengali Community Dinner at BBC Community Centre, Toynbee Street
Film launch in Bangladesh Saturday, 22nd January, 2022
Happy new year! Our film launch event on Sat 22nd January at 4pm will be marketed via the university networks in Dhaka from this week (coordinated by our good friend and colleague Professor Shaila Sultana of the University of Dhaka )
Launch of Abul Lais Shyamal's Bangladesh 50 photo album book
This book of photography has been a long slow-burning project for the Swadhinata Trust, a volunteer led London based secular Bengali community group that works to promote Bengali history and heritage amongst young people. It started many years ago when we discovered the photographer Abul Lias Shyamal’s work. We decided that these photographs needed to be shared with the rest of the world, not just Bengalis but non-Bengalis.
Stepney Words Fifty Years On, 14 November 2021
Swadhinata Trust took part in the Being Human Event marking the 50th anniversary of Stepney Words at Great Hall, People’s Palace, QMUL in a panel entitled ‘Grassroots’, on the grassroots legacies of Stepney Words with the other panellists, Ken Worpole (Centerprise), Tony Harcup (Basement Writers) and Angela Hancock (Stepney All Saints School)
Stay Home Symposium
Swadhinata Trust and King’s College London presented
Amra hori-hori takhmu killa zetu amra ekh-loge taki? (How can we live apart when we live together?): Sylheti conceptualisations of home during the pandemic
Creating dementia-inclusive cultural venues at Museum of London
The London Arts & Culture Dementia Friendly Network are a group of cultural organisations passionate about being dementia-friendly. They work together to advocate for a dementia-friendly arts and culture sector in London.
SONGS OF FREEDOM
CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF BANGLADESH INDEPENDENCE on Victory Day 16th December at British Library 2021, with stories, song and music booking now available on https://www.bl.uk/events/songs-of-freedom-celebrating-fifty-years-of-bangladesh.
Bangladeshi Bloggers – under attack, but defiant
The Nirmul Committee (Forum for Secular Bangladesh, UK) in association with the Swadhinata Trust was involved in the support of many bloggers and activists who had been attacked and threatened in the UK and elsewhere by religious fundamentalist groups.
Lessons learned from UK Bangladeshi experiences of the pandemic
Communication inequalities and minority ethnic groups: Lessons learned from UK Bangladeshi experiences of the pandemic
BANGLA: a new public artwork for Whitechapel
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our latest project at Idea Store Whitechapel. A collaboration with the LBTH Local History Library and Archive & National Portrait Gallery.
Banglaverse Film Festival
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our latest project at Idea Store Whitechapel. A collaboration with the LBTH Local History Library and Archive & National Portrait Gallery.
Explore the objects and oral histories
Explore the objects and oral histories collected as part of ‘Weaving London’s Stories,’ a collecting project capturing the experiences of British Bangladeshi women and children in Tower Hamlets in relation to dress and identity.
A Corona Story
A Corona Story: Addressing the inequalities faced by UK Bangladeshis – Sept 9th, 6.30-7.30pm
Bangladesh @ 50: Insight 71 July Talks
Insight 71 Talks
Join us online and discover 18 front page headlines from Janomot Weekly Newspaper documenting the struggles in the UK and abroad during the1971 War of Liberation.
Altab Ali Day
Swadhinata Trust speakers Julie Begum and Ansar Ahmed Uddin at Tuesday 4 May 2021 Film Screening & Panel Discussion
Stories of 71 Story Competition – Winners Announced
Swadhinata Trust speakers Julie Begum and Ansar Ahmed Uddin at Tuesday 4 May 2021 Film Screening & Panel Discussion
Bangladesh 50 Years Programme is live now!
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh, Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives is proud to present a programme of free online events exploring the connections between the War of Independence in 1971
Brick Lane 1978 project update
So far, we have interviewed 11 activists. It’s proving to be slow due to pandemic and lockdown. The project volunteers are meeting regularly every Thursdays on Zoom.
Bengali Music and Musicians in the UK Project update
In November 2019 we completed 31 oral history interviews, and added more recordings to our collection. All of these are now on the Swadhinata Trust website, along with summaries of the interviews and recordings, and list of topics covered.
National Portrait Gallery
Bangladesh 50 Years – Tower Hamlets
With our partners Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archive we commemorate 50 years of Bangladesh independence. We are remembering the activism and action of citizens from across Tower Hamlets in 1971 and the legacy of that significant event on the communities that came after.
Historic England Cultural consortium
Call for Arts and Heritage Organisations to Join Their Local Authority’s Cultural Consortium Group
Bengali Photo Archive New Project 2021
Call for Arts and Heritage Organisations to Join Their Local Authority’s Cultural Consortium Group
Roman Road LDN: Julie Begum Profile
To read article in full go to link https://romanroadlondon.com/?s=julie+begum
Bangladesh 50 Project
Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archive by the National Portrait Gallery to support the delivery of a project called Citizen UK. They have received a £17million HLF grant for capital projects and part of this they need to develop their collections which lack diversity. They have several local history partners across the country, and we are the East London arm.
Altab Ali Day 2020 and the Fight For Equality
Please check out the contributions of Swadhinata Trustee, Julie Begum on pages 26-29 amongst others in this resource at the end of this post to commerorate this year’s Altab Ali Day
Fight for Equality educational resource
Thank you
Julie Begum
Chair
Brick Lane heritage project
Four Corners and partner Swadhinata Trust are delighted to announce a major new project
which has received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £82,400. Thanks to National
Lottery players, Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point will share the stories of the local
community of London, Brick Lane, during a pivotal year in race relations.
Bengali Mapping Project
Are you interested in creating a Bengali map of the East End?
Inspired by the map of the Jewish East End, Swadhinata Trust in partnership with Mike Berlin, Birkbeck College and Layers of London are working on bring this to life.
Altab Ali Day 2019
The Altab Ali Story returns!
Schools tours this coming May 2019 in Tower Hamlets.
Secular Activists Resource
Directory launch for dealing with online & physical threats.
You are invited to the launch of a resource for dealing with online & physical threats to assist secular activists
Swadhinata Trust presents International Women’s event
Although popular Suffragette legend might have you believing only white women were entrenched in the cause for women’s suffrage in Britain, there were a number of Indian suffragettes and suffragists who took part.
The Altab Ali Story film, Written by Julie Begum
The Altab Ali Story film was screened on 20 May 2017 at the Kobi Nazrul Centre. The tragic racist murder of Altab Ali in May of 1978 sent shockwaves through the Bengali community in London and beyond. This dramatised story by Julie Begum was filmed live for a drama production and also looks at the impact it has on his mother in Bangladesh and his best friend in the UK.
Remembering The Heroes
Remembering The Heroes: The Indian and Bengali Soldiers of WWI and WWII. This year marks the start of remembrance for World War I and the Swadhinata Trust are pleased to be able to post this writing by Emma Bonne.