Sporting Solutions: Breaking Down Barriers in Newham
About this record
Our project explored the role sports has played in the lives of people from South Asian and African Caribbean communities who live – or have a connection to – Newham. What opportunities did they have in Newham while growing up, raising families, working here and growing old? To find out, we worked with a number of local voluntary, community and faith organisations as well as Newham Archives and Eastside Community Heritage.
Visit to Stratford library archives:
Our community participants went on a visit to Newham Archives at Stratford Library.
Here they browsed through artefacts like books, local newspapers and photographs which showed how events were celebrated historically; this allowed us to compare and contrast them with those that we celebrate today.
Participants then studied maps of the local area, with Stratford in particular and saw roads and streets that they knew, enabling them to link them to the regeneration work carried for the Olympics.
Those who attended the Olympics had lived and worked in Newham since migrating from their homelands in the 1950s and 60s. This visit to the archives jogged their memories of historical events and they were able to discuss where they were and what they were doing at that time.
Arts and Crafts Sessions:
Our community participants also took part in Arts and Crafts workshops. We created art work of our memories from the Olympic games which helped us to understand the impact that sport has played in our heritage.
We enlisted an art tutor, Rubina Chohan, to facilitate the creation of a collage that helped put our feelings into pictures and words.
Our participants were: Usha Sappal, Sarbjit Johal, Jaimini Patel, Kaniz Sajid, Narmadaben Shah, Madhu Raichura, Shamim Akhter, Gurbachan Boll, Narmadah Shah and Urmila Kumar.
“Through attending the special tailored arts and crafts we have been able to socialise with each other and this has helped our health and mental well-being.”
Reminiscing via Olympic pictures with Eastside Community Heritage:
Some participants had attended the Olympic games in 2012. They spoke about their experiences and the atmosphere which was something they would “never forget”.
“Through reminiscencing we were able to express feelings about things we had forgotten and about what it was like at the time.”
“I attended the games with my friend Shamim - there were good disability access facilities!"
Oral Histories
As part of our oral history activities, we interviewed local sportsmen from the community and recorded conversations which delved into their pasts.
Their stories focused on the importance of heritage and the impact sport had played on their lives.
We concentrated on several sporting areas during our discussions including: football, cricket, karate, kabaddi (like British Bulldog) and athletics.
Together we shared experiences of the challenges and discrimination that were faced in breaking down barriers and stereotypes – as well as exploring how sport brought Black and Asian communities together.
For example the 1976 Asian Tournament in Luton, Bedford encompassed five games played over two days with 32 teams. Manager Harry Dhillon led players including Kashmir Singh, Ian Yearwood, Clyde Cameron, Pritpal Dhillon, Micky Singh, Clifford Taecs, Shahid Hashmi, Abrar Ahmad, Tony Singh, Tony Palmer, Mohammed Saleem, Bashir Bash and George Alluwalliah.
The 1976 Asian Tournament in Bedford, Luton.
Sport continues to bring communities together to the present day, such as this one below.
This local football team comprises the following team players: Peter Prince, Andrew James, Ray Mcginley, Norman Miller, Steve Findlay, Lambert Joseph, Ranga Hussain, Bernard McCollin, John Fortune, Colin Bramble, Johnny Sangha, Lyndon Lennon, Neil Jarret, Ian Yearwood, Mohammed Saleem, Waqar Butt, Manjit Matharu, Sukhwinder Bhatti, Luis Rodrigues, Paramjit Bhatti, Rajbir Boporai, Harinder Dhillon, Bahadur Singh, Joe Thandi, Baldev Dhillon, Mohammed Nadeem, Arif Khawaja, Mohammed Waseem and Taran Singh.
Sport also continues to attract support from the local community. Here we see attendees cheering on a football match featuring Subco team members.
Supporters Narmadaben Shah and Shanti Goswami attend a football match with Subco team member Mohammed Saleem.
“This was an exciting project and made us realise how the Olympics impacted Newham.”
Additional record details
- Contributor: Subco Trust
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