Did your family come to Britain from South Asia in the 30s, 40s, 50s or later? Are you proud of both your British and South Asian heritage? Do you have a family history and story that you would love to share?

South Asian Heritage Week is being celebrated for the first time at Kent from the 28 March to the 1 April.

Alongside an exciting programme of events and activities taking place, we are looking to create an oral history exhibition exploring the culture and heritage of our British South Asian students and staff and are looking for students and staff participants. 

We are looking for stories and photographs showcasing family life, both in South Asian and in Britain, from the first day at school to the last day at work, from going on holiday to a family celebration.

We are particularly interested in the migration stories of your grandparents or great-grandparents, told either with their words or the words of other family members about their journey to Britain.

Key questions to explore could be:

• How did you come to Britain?
• Why did you choose to come to Britain?
• What were your expectations versus reality?

We will be turning your family heritage into a display in Keynes Atrium to run throughout the duration of the week.  You can submit your stories either as a word document or as an oral recording.

The featured image in this story is a family photo from our Student EDI Officer Becky Lamyman, showing her grandmother, mother and uncles. We’d love to see your family photos too.

We are very interested in photos, including those of family life both in South Asian and in Britain right up to modern day. These can be submitted independently of a story if preferred.  Please submit these in a digital format with a relevant caption. 

If anyone is interested in writing a blog post about their memories, identity, family traditions or any other topic then these would also be most welcome.

Please do ensure that you have permission from the relevant family members to share the stories and pictures.

If you are interested in taking part, or if you want more information, please contact Becky Lamyman, Student EDI Officer on rsl7@kent.ac.uk for a participation form. 

The deadline for all entries is Wednesday 9 March 2022.