Culture And Memory

Rediscovered Journeys: voices of South Asian migration and hope in the SW

We will record the at-risk stories of 50+ South Asian elders who migrated to rural towns and villages in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire between 1950 and 1975. This is an untold story of elders who were the first and typically the only people from South Asia to arrive and live in our rural communities. Their story is one of integrating with the local community and contributing through commerce, health and local government. Now in their 80s and 90s, this heritage is at risk of being lost. South Asian heritage has not received the same focus as migration from the Caribbean. South Asian projects to date have focussed on the very different experience of urban communities in Bradford, Manchester and London. There is an equally compelling story to be told about the experiences and impacts that people from South Asia have had in our rural towns and villages.