National Lottery TV advert

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In May 2020 Apna Virsa was included in a television advert from the National Lottery which showcased the excellent efforts of community organisations during the pandemic.

In our case, we were included for the endless hours of free exercise classes we put online – as you may know we are partly funded by the National Lottery.

The final collage allowed community organisations, such as ours, a chance to take the stage. Seema is pictured bottom, centre left, alongside 15 other volunteers. Well done Seema!

Seema recorded herself saying “Thank you” which was featured in a collage at the end of the piece with numerous other group leaders saying the same thing.

The advert is called “How you’re helping,” and can be viewed here. It has clocked up around 11,000 views so far.

The National Lottery has showcased our efforts during the pandemic on a regular basis, and in fairness we couldn’t have done a lot of our work without their essential funding.

Unexpectedly, the advert continued to be shown on national television for the best part of five months – so in the end Seema had far more than just five minutes of fame!

Apna Virsa’s Recipe Channel

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In May 2020 we launched our own YouTube channel to provide some cooking inspiration for people from home.

Ozlem demonstrated the perfect prawn salad amongst other dishes. Everything was filmed from her home.

Ozlem uploaded weekly cooking videos of a variety of different dishes, with the recipe and method outlined alongside each post.

Some of the most popular recipes, with the most views, have included her lentil bread, mango salad and Turkish zucchini.

What’s more delicious than a prawn pasta dish? Surprisingly, it wasn’t one of our most popular posts but still did well. Followers were always advised to follow the information provided as well as the video.

The channel was also utilised for the #Cake4Caring event where Ozlem baked two different cakes for people to consider baking themselves on the August weekend celebration. 

Bhangra Classes September 2019

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We run Bhangra and Gidha dance classes for Kids, Adults and older people through out the year.

Some of our popular dance classes are:

 

 

 

Please contact us to find out dates for our different terms and how to enrol.

Email: apnavirsaproject@gmail.com

 

Bhangra Classes April 2019

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We run Bhangra and Gidha dance classes for Kids, Adults and older people through out the year.

Some of our popular dance classes are:

 

Please contact us to find out dates for our different terms and how to enrol.

Email: apnavirsaproject@gmail.com

 

Bhangra 4 U – January 2019

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We run Bhangra and Gidha dance classes for Kids, Adults and older people through out the year.

Some of our popular dance classes are:

 

 

 

Adult Classes are for 17 Years and over. Beginners do not require any previous dance ability. Enrolment to Improvers and Intermediate courses is by tutor assessment.

Please contact us to find out dates for our different terms and how to enrol.

Email: apnavirsaproject@gmail.com

 

Bhangra 4 U – April

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We run Bhangra and Gidha dance classes for Kids, Adults and older people through out the year.

Some of our popular dance classes are:

 

Adult Classes are for 17 Years and over. Beginners do not require any previous dance ability. Enrolment to Improvers and Intermediate courses is by tutor assessment.

Please contact us to find out dates for our different terms and how to enrol.

Email: apnavirsaproject@gmail.com

 

Bhangra and Gidha dance Classes

/in /by

We run Bhangra and Gidha dance classes for Kids, Adults and older people through out the year.

Some of our popular dance classes are:

Adult Classes are for 17 Years and over. Beginners do not require any previous dance ability. Enrolment to Improvers and Intermediate courses is by tutor assessment.

Please contact us to find out dates for our different terms and how to enrol.

Email: apnavirsaproject@gmail.com

 

Marriage of Memories

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Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, Marriage of Memories is an exciting project to explore and learn about the cultural heritage of many different wedding rituals, historical traditions & customs of the diverse population. An opportunity to Learn and share about your own as well as others heritage and culture related to weddings. Project involves Research, workshops and exhibitions on different rituals of weddings.

To register your interest or if you would like further information, please contact us via Email: apnavirsaproject@gmail.com

70th Years of Indian Independence

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This project was funded through Big Lottery fund as a part of celebrate funding. It aimed to establish a project which enabled the community of Slough to come together to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Indian independence on the 15th August 2017 and also sharing stories of partition. It was a humble effort to pay homage to all those who lost their lives during freedom fight and partition, making wider community aware about our history and the sad stories around partition as well as celebrating 70 years of India and UK relationship.

 

The project commenced in January 2017 through a programme of music, dance, food and craft based workshops, which took place in various locations across Slough, culminating in a public “Indian extravaganza” event taking place in August 2017.

 

Our approach was to organise a diverse range of workshop activities intended to provide something for everyone, irrespective of their age or background, with the objective of showcasing Indian culture and diversity with the wider Slough Community. In this context, activities and the public event was designed to share the diversity of different regions of India.

 

The project provided a fantastic opportunity for the Indian community in Slough to share our celebration of the anniversary of Indian Independence with the wider communities in Slough. Diversity was intended to be a key theme of the project and by highlighting/celebrating diversity in Indian culture we wanted to promote the principles of engagement and integration across communities, with the objective building tolerance and understanding of cultural differences amongst local communities.

Slough’s Community Ambassadors project for 50+ (2014-2017)

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Slough’s Community Ambassadors project was funded through People’s Health trust. It involved working with older people (50+) from the South Asian community living in the selected wards in Slough who are at the risk of social or emotional isolation, with low educational attainment, are hard to reach and suffering from poor health and wellbeing.

As a part of this project, various activities were delivered around health, social skills, community engagement and combating social isolation. Over 100 people who are aged 50 and over took part in this project and benefitted immensely.

 

Main outcomes of this project:

100% of participants reported that they have increased physical activities, feel in better health and feel happier living in Slough.

The project gave participants an increase in confidence and social and personal skills, helping them to build friendships and connections in their community. 100% of participants reported increased self esteem and had made connection/friendship with minimum 10 new people.

The project gave participants an increased sense of belonging to the community and   the opportunity to be an active member of the community.On the basis of feedback received, tutor observations and peer feedback, 62% are being active, showing interests in community engagement