August 2008
Nowka Bais in Oxford: 24 August 2008
4th London Poetry Festival 2008

July 2008
Diaspora London Music Village
Magical season of Bengali theatre @ Brady Arts Centre

June 2008
Because of Hammershoi: Bulgarian Embassy

May 2008
Fundraising Dinner for the Bangladesh Flood Victim Appeal Fund
ASIANA Fashion Party
BRAC UK Volunteer Programme Evening

April 2008
Bangladesh 1971 - Photography Exhibition
Tasher Desh - Land of Cards: @ Watermans Theatre
Safe Neighbourhood Football Tournament
Screening of the Bangladeshi Film LOHAKHOR / "Ironeaters"
Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Event

March 2008
Sounds of the Underground
Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Events
Brick Lane Circle Seminars on Bangladesh and Bangladeshis Abroad

February 2008
Freshly Scratched @ BAC
Brick Lane Circle Seminars on Bangladesh and Bangladeshis Abroad
Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Events

4th London Poetry Festival 2008

4th London Poetry Festival 2008
August 8, 9, 10 & 11 (Friday-Monday) Evenings
Waterloo St John’s Church
Waterloo Road
London SE1

Tickets: £6 Cons £4 (Available Online)
Contact: contact@londonpoetryfestival.com
Website: http://www.londonpoetryfestival.com

Special Offer from Shakespeare’s Globe and London Poetry Festival

1. Shakespeare's Globe and LPF Working Together for Poetre/Verse-play: Special Offer on Glyn Maxwell's Liberty . 13 Performances only: 31 August – 4 October. Best Available Seats at £15 (Normal price £33). Come and learn more about The Globe at the 4th LPF
2. Half Price Festival Tickets for people who have purchased tickets for any of The Globe shows this season including Liberty’s. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Festival with proof of purchase being produced of The Globe Show at the time of the event.

People may begin gathering from six but the Festival will start at about 7:30 p.m and finish by 10:30 p.m. That's the time for all the four evening events.

As its signature presentation the 4th London Poetry Festival will present this year's Five Poets in Residence in all the four of the evening events. The Residence Poets are: Anjan Saha (Hammersmith, London), Claire Askew (University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh), Helen Long (Tunbridge Wells), Nnorom Azuonye (Thamesmead, London) and Sharon Harriot (Wimbledon, London). People may read their works on Poets’ Letter or on the Festival website.

The Festival is run on a not for profit basis so it is here because of the support and energy everyone involves offers it for free, for the love of word.

Tickets are kept at a very low level: £6 full price and cons £4. Members of the Facebook Groups The London Circle, The National English Poetre and London Poetry Festival and Poetry Society, The English PEN, NUJ, Poetry School and Society of Authors are entitled to concessionary tickets.

There are four slots for music: one every evening. If there are any musicians/singers/bands among you or someone you know please let them know of this opportunity for them to get involved.

There is an Open Mic slot every evening for young poets to read. Poets who are interested to read at the Open Mic slots should send one poem to contact@londonpoetryfestival.com because the Open Mic readers are preselected.

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Nowka Bais in Oxford: 24 August 2008

The river Thames, as it passes though Oxford offers to the people of the city may delights. People of the city have long walked it banks observed it wildlife and fished its water. n the nineteen century it became a place of sport and recreation. Rowing and boating clubs sprung up from the town and the university.

Event seeks to bring a new type of boating to the Thames, boating which itself has a long tradition.
In the great river estuaries of Bangladeshi Nowka Bais canoes are workboats, during the wet seasons, after the harvest, the same boats have been part of great river celebrations with races for young and old. Now with the support of the local river communities these boats have come to Oxford.
Having seen whole families on the water and to have seen the great skill of the Bangladeshi boatmen a mutual respect has grown between the Oxford’s traditional users and the watermen and women of Bangladesh. The Thames has a new colourful and skilled community enjoying it waters long may they do so.

Two Nowka Bais, Bangladeshi canoes, were part of Oxford millennium celebrations. Brought to Britain by Aziz. They were received with terrific enthusiasm.
The determination to acquire the boats and set up a club with an annual race arose between the Oxfordshire Bangladeshi Association and Oxford boat clubs.

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A Magical Season of Bengali Theatre: 5-27th July 2008

Organised by Tower Hamlets Council’s Arts and Events Team, eight local drama groups will perform over four consecutive weekends starting from Saturday 5 July. The event is in its sixth year and gives local people the chance to enjoy and find out more about Bangladeshi theatre. It also gives local drama groups the opportunity to perform on stage to a wide audience.


The shows will range from dramatic performances bringing to life age-old Bengali stories to modern-day tales. The performances will entertain the audience with a mixture of drama, dance and singing.

Many of the drama groups are using rehearsal space in the council’s Kobi Nazrul Centre, Hanbury Street in the run up to their performance. The council provides the venue and the technicians on the night, and the local drama groups receive the ticket money to pay for things such as props and costumes.

Performances include:

Saturday 5 July Nakshikathar Math – A dance drama performed by Taal Taranga

Sunday 6 July Agun Agun Khela – A play performed by Desh Theatre

Saturday 12 July Tahar Namti Ranjana A play performed by Mahua Production

Sunday 13 July Khoab Nama – A play by Soytten Sen School of Performing Arts & Udichi

Saturday 19 July Triveni – A dance drama performed by Nrityakala – The Rhythm

Sunday 20 July Chay Kyar Jammen – A play performed by Prism Cultural Group

Saturday 26 July Valmiki Pratibha – A play performed by The Tagoreans

Sunday 27 July Mukhe Bangalee Buke Bangalee - Performed by KNC Drama Group

Performances take place at The Brady Arts Centre, 192-196 Hanbury Street, London E1 5HU and start at 7pm with doors opening at 6.30pm. The average performances run for one and a half hours.

All performances are ticketed events. Tickets can be booked from the box office at The Brady Arts Centre on 020 7364 7900. Tickets cost £5.00 (£3.00 concessions) unless otherwise stated.

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diaspora london MUSIC VILLAGE: Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 July 2008

FREE ADMISSION FESTIVAL WEEKEND at HYDE PARK
1-9pm each day

The summer Music Village - Europe’s longest-running festival of world cultures. The festival is organised by arts charity, Cultural Co-operation. Twenty groups of London-based performers are featured in two jam-packed days of top class music, dance and spoken word from all over the world. The line-up includes African, Latin, Jewish, Asian, Kurdish, East European and Chinese performance styles, to reflect decades of converging migrations into London from every corner of the earth.

The artistic line-up will feature around 20 top class performing groups and soloists from around the world. Confirmed artists include: Africa Jambo (CONGO); Palenke(LATIN); Anthar Kharana (COLOMBIA); Harare (ZIMBABWE); Vivi Lachs & the Klezmer Klub (JEWISH); Kathy Hall/London Uyghur Ensemble/Sin Man Yue (CHINA); Jyotsna Srikanth (INDIA); Pink n Ruby (SLOVENIA); Jide Chord (NIGERIA); Koma Roji Nwe (KURDISH); Panache (CARIBBEAN). Full artist line-up and performance times available from 23rd June: www.culturalco-operation.org

The Diaspora London Music Village festival is organised by Cultural Co-operation, an independent London-based arts charity that promotes cross-cultural contact, dialogue and understanding.

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Because of Hammershoi: 19th & 20th June 2008

The opening exhibition “Because of Hammershoi” is taking place on 19th/20th.

Sofia Gallery, The Bulgarian Embassy, 186 Queens Gate, London , SW7 5HL
Opening: 6 -8:00pm

30 female portraits
by
Enamul Hoque - Photographer
Mareta Tsenova - Art Director

A collaboration between photographer Enamul Hoque and art director Marieta Tsenova.
30 portraits of women, inspired by Eleanor Yule's documentary film “Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershoi” (2005).

The inspiration they found in Hammershoi's paintings were the beauty of proportion, the minimalism of his interior style, the austerity of his anonymous silhouettes and the concentration of detail, which all amounts up to unique and strikingly beautiful body of work. It typically brings forth associations of seclusion, solitude and nostalgia to something insignificant. The portraits of this exhibition concentrate on detail. They are a narrative of the beautiful things around us. These are portraits of contemporary women, each having her profession, who agreed to model for them. They are talented and interesting personalities with dynamic lives. They simply showed them in another light; in a brief moment of concentration in the style of Vilhelm Hammershoi.

The garments, worn by these women, belong to some of the most creative names in contemporary fashion design. The set design portrays a part of our environment, where objects used have been purchased from shops or come from private collections. They feel that the modernity of Hammershoi's pictures has been languishing for a long time in the shadow of oblivion but today this modernity is clearly visible when projected upon familiar silhouettes, faces, objects and interior atmosphere.

The added inspiration in these portraits is the diversity of London, the people they meet every day, the material world, which surrounds them, the street markets, vintage bazaars and atmosphere of preserved tradition. They believe that each story told finds its listeners and the minimalism and exquisiteness of Hammershoi's world, as per their interpretation, will hopefully find its audience too.

For information contact: info@enamul.co.uk or Mareta@justaperfectday.com

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Bangladesh Flood Victim Appeal Fund on Tuesday 27th May 2008

This fundraising event is being organised by the Council of Bangladeshis in Scotland, Bangladesh Samity, BanglaScot Foundation, Commonwealth Society, Oceanic Consulting, BBCC Scotland, Action Aid (Bangladesh) and IAP Scotland

Tues 27th May at 6.30pm for 7pm
at the MacRobert Pavilion
Royal Highland Showground, Ingliston, Edinburgh

Book your tickets now! Table (10 people) - £500 Individual - £60

You can reserve your table online at www.oceanicconsulting.co.uk/bangladeshcycloneappeal

Tickets include a 3-course meal with live entertainment, with special guests, a Prize Raffle and lots of other fun activities which will keep you smiling and get you reaching just a little deeper into your wallets for this extremely deserving cause. Catering staff will include some of Britannia Spice’s award winning chefs, who will create a special menu for the event.

On November 15, 2007 the Category 4 Cyclone Sidr, with winds of up to 135mph ripped through Bangladesh causing 3,447 deaths, with 3,322 people injured, and 1,063 missing as of November 20, 2007. There was widespread flooding with farmland and countryside devastated. Officials described it as the worst storm in more than 15 years.

Thousands of homes were destroyed and at least 650,000 people were evacuated. In the worst affected districts, 90% of homes and 95% of rice crops were obliterated by the winds.
I have just returned from Bangladesh, where I visited what remains of Kalapara and Nizampur villages in the badly affected district of Patuakhali. The people there are struggling to cope with the aftermath of this terrible event, with makeshift housing and their livestock gone.

The target is to raise £100,000 for these two villages, for a cyclone resistant house and a cow for each family. It’s a lot of money to raise, but with your help it can done. The statistics for a disaster like Cyclone Sidr can be overwhelming, but by coming to this event and sending a donation you can make a real difference to these two villages. Your money will give them the means to rebuild and develop their own future.

If you cannot come along on the night you can still send a donation. You can sponsor a complete house for £1500 and a cow for £200, but all amounts will be very much appreciated. Please use the form with this letter. You can also book online at Online at www.oceanicconsulting.co.uk/bangladeshcycloneappeal

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BRAC UK Volunteer Programme Evening: 6 May 2008

BRAC UK is an international NGO working with diaspora communities in the UK, undertaking advocacy for international development from a southern perspective and raising funds for BRAC programmes primarily in Africa. With support from VSO, BRAC UK are undertaking a short survey to better understand the interest, skills and availability of British-Bangladeshi professionals to volunteer with BRAC in Bangladesh. As a part of this survey BRAC UK is organising a Focus Group Discussion to help us to design the volunteer programme.

Do join the focus group discussion that will be engaging, participatory and fun. This will give you an opportunity to share your views on volunteering, meet other British-Bangladesh professionals and learn more about BRAC UK.

Date: Tuesday, 6th May 2008
Registration and refreshments: 6 .30pm to 7pm
Participatory exercises: 7pm to 8.30pm
Venue: Conference Room, 32-36 Loman Street, London SE1 0EH (nearest tube stations are Southwark or London Bridge). Please see attached street map.

Please confirm your participation to:

Sandra M Kabir
Executive Director
BRAC UK Our objectives are to alleviate poverty and empower the poor
32-36 Loman Street
London SE1 0EE, UK
Phone/fax: 44 (0)207 922 7721
Mobile: 44 (0)7949 161 240
Web site: www.bracuk.net
Donations: www.cafonline.org (search for BRAC UK)
www.justgiving.com/bracuk/supportus

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ASIANA PRESENTS FASHION PARTY: Saturday 3rd May 2008

9.30pm – 3am
Alibi Bar, London

Join ASIANA at Alibi bar on Saturday 3rd May Bank Holiday Weekend, for the most fashionable party in town! Luxuriate in the soft fabrics and cool leathers of Alibi and then dance the night away in a scintillating and friendly atmosphere. Music by Diamond Cut - RnB, Hip Hop and Desi Vibes

Dress Code: Strictly smart, sleek and sophisticated. No caps and no trainers. This is ASIANA please make the effort
Tickets: Limited tickets available from £15
VIP area with table service: limited tickets available from £25

Alibi Bar Address: 18 Lime Office Court, Hill House, Shoe Lane, London, EC4A 3BQ. Nearest Underground Chancery Lane or Blackfriars

Bookings and info: 07811 375633 or 07976 771945

www.asianamag.com

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Bangladesh 1971 - Photography Exhibition: 4 April - 31 May 2008

At: Rivington Place, off Rivington Street, London EC2A 3BA
Open Tuesday - Friday 11am - 6pm
Saturday 12pm - 6pm
Entry is free. Venue is wheelchair accessible.

A photographic exhibition and film season that focuses on one of South Asia’s most significant political events: the foundation of Bangladesh as an independent state.

The Bangladesh war of independence in 1971 was one of the bloodiest conflicts in living memory. In an attempt to crush forces seeking independence for what was then East Pakistan, the West Pakistani military regime unleashed a systematic campaign of violence that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Bangalis. Many of the photographs from the unique collection of the Drik archives will be shown in the UK for the first time.

In 266 days Bangali, hill people and Adivasi resistance fighters and their allies defeated the military forces of Pakistan. The result was the birth of a new nation - Bangladesh - and the dismemberment of Pakistan. It was only after the 16th of December 1971 when Pakistani troops surrendered in East Pakistan, that Bangladeshis began to realise the scale of the atrocities committed during the previous nine months.

1971 was a year of national and international crisis in South Asia. The history of Bangladesh is implicitly tied to the partition of India in 1947 and therefore the tragic events of 1971 are linked to Britain’s colonial past. For Bangladesh, ravaged by the war and subsequent political turmoil, it has been a difficult task to reconstruct its own history. It is only during the last few years that this important Bangladeshi photographic history has begun to emerge.

Now decades after the war, Autograph ABP in collaboration with Drik presents a historical photographic overview of Bangladesh 1971 at Rivington Place.

A major documentary photographic exhibition of primarily Bangladeshi photographers that focuses on the independence struggle in 1971. The exhibition is produced in partnership with Shahidul Alam, Director of Drik, a media activist and journalist from Bangladesh. This will be the first comprehensive review in the UK of one of the most important conflicts in modern history. It is recognised that over a million people died in 266 days during the struggle for an independent Bangladesh.

Photographers included in the exhibition: Abdul Hamid Raihan, Aftab Ahmed, BegArt Collection, Golam Mawla, Jalaluddin Haider, Mohammad Shafi , Naib Uddin Ahmed, Rashid Talukder, Sayeeda Khanom and Bal Krishnan.

Film makers included in the exhibition: Shohel Mazumder, Zhuntu Chakman, Khalid Mahmood Mithu and the Rainbow Film Society

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Tasher Desh - Land of Cards: 15 to 20 April 2008 @ Watermans Theatre

by Rabrindanath Tagore

Tuesday 15 April (Preview) - Sun 20 April @ 7.45pm
Tickets Wed - Thur £10/£8 Fri - Sun £15/£12 (Preview £5 - limited)

Classical Indian dance collides with Alice in Wonderland and Western opera in this sumptuous dance opera...

This wonderful show opening here at Watermans - with talented Bangladeshi dancer, Cid Shaha in the lead - the story is in English with songs in Bengali & on the Tuesday 15 April tickets are available for £5.

A Prince, tired of suffocating in his palace, goes in search of adventure. Accompanied by a far more conventional travelling companion, a Merchant, the mismatched pair get shipwrecked in the Land of Cards. Here the inhabitants are playing cards, divided by their suits and unable to mix. With the wild force of his personality, the Prince starts to effect change in the Cards and gradually their human qualities begin to emerge...

Rabrindanath Tagore was India's first Nobel laureate and his writing is wonderful to behold. His play Tasher Desh - Land of Cards will provide a visual feast for all the family. Featuring Cid Shaha from Bangladesh as The Prince and Ash Mukherjee from Calcutta as the Merchant.

BOX OFFICE: 020 8232 1010

Watermans 40 High St, Brentford London, TW8 0DS

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Safe Neighbourhood Football Tournament

The event is organised by Stepney FC. Barclays Premiership Trophy & FA Community Shield.

Sunday 13 April 2008: Victoria Park (summer league pitches)
9.30am - 6.30pm

Monday 14 April 2008: Mile End Stadium
Kick-off 6.45pm

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Bangladeshi Film LOHAKHOR / "Ironeaters": 5 April 2008 @ British Museum

London Premiere of the film screening of the Bangladeshi Film LOHAKHOR / "Ironeaters" is going to be shown in British Museum.

LOHAKHOR / Ironeaters

At the London International Documentary Film Festival 2008 on Saturday the 5th April 2008 in BP Theatre / British Museum at 12.20p.m.
There will be a panel discussion after the screening.
Tickets are £3 and can be booked through the British Museum box office- 0207 323 8181.

Synopsis:
LOHAKHOR
Ironeaters / Eisenfresser

By Shaheen Dill-Riaz

85 min. 35mm, colour, Dolby Digital 5.1(Orig.Bengali with Engl. Subtitles)

"If you are really hungry, you would be able to eat anything, even if it is iron " said one of the worker, standing in front of a 52 thousands tones heavy Oil Tanker on a ship-breaking-yard in Chittagong, on the southern coast of Bangladesh, during my research for this film. Like Solayman, a huge number of farmers are forced by the annual famine in northern part of the country to leave their homeland and come to the shipyards in the south to work as seasonal workers. The film follows a group of workers from the north and accompanies them for four months during their work in the PHP-yard. PHP stands for "Peace Happiness and Prosperity". This is one of thirty yards that line the beaches of Chittagong where the farmers from the North do their deadly jobs. They dismantle the garbage of the Western World: oil tankers, vast container and passenger ship. This film became the witness of a cruel system of exploitation that very few workers can escape from: the seasonal workers from the north don't only do the hardest physical labour one can imagine, they are also forced into debt and trapped in the south.

Awards:

1. First Prize, One-World-Award NRW 2007, Köln, Germany
2. First Prize, Film South Asia International Documentary Film Festival 2007,Katmandu, Nepal
3. GRAND PRIX, Festival International du Film d' Environnement, Paris 2007

Film Festivals:

Munich International Documentary Film Festival, Germany, May 2007

1. Nürnberg International Humanrights Film Festival, Germany, September 2007
2. Lissabon International Documentary Film Festival, Portugal, Oktober 2007
3. Film South Asia Documentary Film Festival, Katmandu, Nepal, Oktober 2007
4. Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Brasil, Oktober 2007
5. International Environmental Film Festival, Paris, November 2007
6. DOCAVIV International Documentary Film Festival, Tel Aviv 2008

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Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Event: April 2008

Title: Supply or Bust! Equality & Diversity

Date: Thursday 3rd April 2008
Time: 9:00am – 1:00pm followed by networking
Address: Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London SE1 0LN
Description: All sorts of organisations recognise the need for a strong supply chain. Many are heavily dependant on smaller businesses and public sector clients recognise the fact. In addition, their significant contribution to the local economy ensures that the case for using smaller businesses is being heard loud and clear! As a result of the buying power of the public sector, prime contractors are now being quizzed about their supply chains. Fairness and transparency are key drivers during this assessment. This session will cover why you need to have an equality policy in place; who has been benefiting from this development; free advice on how to use supplier diversity to grow your business and provide you with a draft policy to fine tune back at your business.
Speakers: Michael Gutierrez and Mary Edwards
Sponsors: Supply London

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Sounds of the Underground: Thursday 3rd April

Museum in Docklands 6-9pm

The 1990s saw the explosion of Asian underground music in East London. It’s now been fifteen years since East London rappers, Asian Dub Foundation, first formed. Join us for a night of live performance, DJs and chat in celebration of the ‘conscious clubbing scene’. Everyone knows about the infamous nights at the Blue Note with Talvin Singh but there's much more to the story than that...we bring together the key performers, music historians and DJs to reminisce about the local roots and politics of this global music phenomenon.

Sonia Kumari Mehta, manager of ADFED (the education wing of ADF) and an outstanding Hindi vocalist in her own right, will perform an acoustic set accompanied by a tabla player. Then hear classic 1990s tunes courtesy of DJ Tabula Rasa. Performers will be joined by Julie Begum (of Bengali community group - Swadhinata Trust) and Ash Sharma (cultural critic and author of Disorientating Rhythms) for a conversation with the editor of UntoldLondon about the highs and lows of the Asian underground.

Alongside taking a look at the past we’ll also be looking at the future of local music. The City Gateway music programme at Limehouse Youth Club reaches out to young people throughout Tower Hamlets, providing them with music training and mentoring, from DJing to MCing. They will be showcasing their own music for the first time at Museum in Docklands.

As always, the rest of the Museum is staying up late, giving you time to take in the 2000 years of docklands history and tales of the river, port and people – including the new London, Sugar & Slavery gallery. And if you want your Docklands evening to continue, why not go next door to 1802, the Museum’s bar, for some Soul Food Tunes and speciality cocktails until 11pm.

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Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Event: March 2008

National Black Women’s Network events: To book a place at any of the above mentioned events pleas e contact the National Black Women’s Network on 020 7544 1010 / 07956 902 487 or email info@nbwn.org

Title: Supply or Bust! Quality Assurance Workshop

Date: Monday 3rd March 2008
Time: 9:00am – 1:00pm followed by networking
Address: Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London SE1 0LN
Description: Large organisations require suppliers within their supply chain to be able to demonstrate and evidence a robust Quality Management System, so if you have yet to formulate your quality assurance policy now is the time to do so! This session will provide an understanding of what Quality is and why it is important; provide you with a draft policy to fine tune back at your business; introduce the ISP9001 Quality Management System and provide you with the basic tools you will need to start putting a QMS in place in your business.
Speakers: Michael Gutierrez and Mary Edwards
Sponsors: Supply London

Title: Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Event

Date: Thursday 6th March 2008
Time: 3:00pm – 5:00pm followed by networking until 8:00pm
Address: The Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B1 1BB
Description: A roundtable event to showcase best practice in BAME business and empower entrepreneurs to improve competitiveness and develop new opportunities to improve the business environment in which they operate.
Speakers: Cllr Alan Rudge (Cabinet Member, Equalities & Human Resources Birmingham City Council); Caroline Spelman MP ( Chairman, Conservative Party); Bianca Simpson (Re-nu Body Clinic); Joan Blaney (Director, CETA); Charles Small (Chief Executive, The Drum Arts Centre) and Charles Barwell (Vice-President, Conservative Party National Convention)
Sponsors: Conservative Party

Title: An Audience with Boris Johnson, Mayoral Candidate for London

Date: Monday 10th March 2008
Time: 5:00pm – 7:00pm followed by networking
Address: Conservative Campaign Headquarters, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DP
Description: An opportunity for Boris Johnson to outline his strategic vision for London and how he will be working with the Black Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) community to engage them in the development and sustainability of this vibrant and diverse city as well as accessing economic opportunities, especially around Enterprise development, support and procurement opportunities; Community cohesion – active strategies to combat gun and knife crime; rising drug culture and increasing the aspirations of young people and his proposed strategy around diversity and inclusion.
Speakers: Boris Johnson
Sponsors: Back Boris Campaign

Title: Think Big to Succeed

Date: Thursday 13th March 2008
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Address: The Holborn Bars, 138-140 Holborn, London EC1
Description: If you are serious about success, don’t take a chance by missing this event. Attendees can come along and share the best in motivational principles and concepts over a light buffet whilst networking with likeminded individuals who are serious about acquiring the tools and attitude that will take them to where they want to go in business.
Speakers: Brenda Emmanus (BBC London) Sherry Dixon (Editor, SHE Magazine); Tarkan Ahmet (Peak Performance Coach); Paulette Bell (Paulette Bell Image Consultant) and others to be confirmed.
Sponsors: Business Link of London

Title: Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Event

Date: Thursday 27th March 2008
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Address: Conservative Campaign Headquarters, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DP
Description: A roundtable event to showcase best practice in BAME business and empower entrepreneurs to improve competitiveness and develop new opportunities to improve the business environment in which they operate.
Speakers: Patrick Fredrick (CEO, Aimex International); Sonja Scantlebury ( Director, Accredited Services Ltd): Alukemi Atijosan (Director, Eagles Solutions); and Pinki Llani (Founder, Asian Women of Achievement)
Sponsors: Conservative Party

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Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Event: February 2008

National Black Women’s Network events: To book a place at any of the above mentioned events pleas e contact the National Black Women’s Network on 020 7544 1010 / 07956 902 487 or email info@nbwn.org

Date: Tuesday 19th February 2008
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Address: Conservative Campaign Headquarters, 30 Millbank, London SW1P 4DP
Description: A roundtable event to showcase best practice in BAME business and empower entrepreneurs to improve competitiveness and develop new opportunities to improve the business environment in which they operate.
Speakers: Patrick Fredrick (Aimex International); Juliet Alexander (Juliet Alexander & Associates): Kim Crawford (Open Doors Estates); Eric Ollerenshaw (LDA Board Member) and Walaaa Idris (Entrepreneur)
Sponsors: Conservative Party

Title: Think Big to Succeed

Date: Wednesday 20th February 2008
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Address: The Holborn Bars, 138-140 Holborn, London EC1
Description: If you are serious about success, don’t take a chance by missing this event. Attendees can come along and share the best in motivational principles and concepts over a light buffet whilst networking with likeminded individuals who are serious about acquiring the tools and attitude that will take them to where they want to go in business.
Speakers: Brenda Emmanus (BBC London) Grace Owen (CEO, Grace Owen Solutions); Feza Sengul (Success University) ; a Andrea Firth-Clark (www.headgame.co.uk) and Debbii McKoy (www.debbiimckoy.lifesuccessconsultants.com)
Sponsors: Business Link of London

Title: nbwnUncorked

Date: Monday 25th February 2008
Time: 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Address: The Spot Wine Bar, 195 Rushey Green, Catford SE6
Price: £15
Description: The NBWN is bringing a fresh new twist to the world of wine tasting. For the first time professional women get an introduction to the world of wine and winemakers learn about its consumers. The session is designed for newcomers who want to explore the world of wine for the first time. nbwnUncorked! aims to teach the fundamentals of wine appreciation through the use of informative, entertaining and memorable teaching methods that nevertheless adhere to high standards of professional competence.
Speakers: John Townley (Wine & Spirit Education Trust)
Sponsors: NBWN

Title: Let’s Talk Business Roundtable & Networking Event

Date: Monday 25th February 2008
Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm followed by networking until 8:00pm
Address: The Chapter Arts Centre, Market Road, Canton, Cardiff CF5 1QE
Description: A roundtable event to showcase best practice in BAME business and empower entrepreneurs to improve competitiveness and develop new opportunities to improve the business environment in which they operate.
Speakers: Cheryl Gillan MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Wales); Marcella Maxwell, (CEO – Priff Weithredydd, Chwaree Teg); Nick Borne AM, (Leader of the Opposition); Bola Olobisi, (CEO – British Female Inventors & Innovators Network); Kathryn Williams (Completely Organised)
Sponsors: Conservative Party

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FRESHLY SCRATCHED presents: 15 February 2008 - 16 February 2008 at BAC

NO MORE FURY with Sarah Sayeed and Vernon Douglas on February 15th 2008 at 20.30pm

NO MORE FURY is a performance piece which has been devised this week over four rehearsal sessions. Come to see this and another four new Freshly Scratched pieces of work. Freshly Scratched runs over two days.

Directed by Vernon Douglas and performed by Sarah Sayeed
FRESHLY SCRATCHED by Various Artists

Several artists who have never presented work at BAC before show 10 minute try-outs of new work. Scratch enables artists to test ideas in front of an audience and listen to their feedback. If you’ve never tried Scratch before then come along and get your first taste, and feed into ideas for new theatre.

15 February 2008 - 20:30
16 February 2008 - 14.00 and 17.00
£5.00 (Concs £0.00/Pay What You Can )

For directions go to the following link: http://www.bac.org.uk/findus.php

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Brick Lane Circle Seminars on Bangladesh and Bangladeshis Abroad

7.00 – 9.00 pm, Lab 1&2, Idea Store Whitechapel, 321 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1BU
Muhammad Ahmedullah, Secretary, Brick Lane Circle: 07960 844 117
www.bricklanecircle.org

Thursday 20 MARCH: Bangladesh and Bangladeshis Abroad

The current reform programme in Bangladesh and prospects for the future by Professor Mushtaq Khan, Professor of economics at School of African and Oriental Studies. He was born in Dhaka in 1961, completed his undergraduate studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford and then won a scholarship for his PhD studies in Economics at Cambridge. Previously he taught at the universities of both Oxford and Cambridge. Information about his research interests and
publications are available on his website: http://mercury.soas.ac.uk/users/mk17/

27 MARCH 08: Bangladesh and Bangladeshis Abroad

Where is the Bangladeshi Community in the London Economy?
by Murad Qureshi, AM, Labour Group, LONDON ASSEMBLY

Having worked in Housing and Regeneration for 15 years, Murad helped establish Ethnic Housing Associations in the East End. He was a member Westminster Council from 1998 until 2006. Murad is a Board Member of BRAC UK, a London based international development organisation that seeks to alleviate poverty and empower the poor in the UK and abroad. http://www.muradqureshi.com

28 FEBRUARY - Marginalisation and resistance amongst Bangladesh's minority adivasis: The Santal

by Dr Fauzia Shariff (Phd Laws), who completed doctoral research on the Santal of India and Bangladesh in 2006. Currently ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Worked as policy adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development as well as for NGOs and local government.

21 FEBRUARY- A panel discussion on Unleashing the Potentials of British Bangladeshi Women

1. Tamanna Talukder has a Masters degree in Economics with a career in banking, specialising in credit risk management. Currently working for the Financial Services Authority implementing new capital management framework for the major banking groups in the UK.

2. Sandra Kabir is the Executive Director & Secretary of BRAC UK. She has worked in development since 1976 with donor agencies and international/national NGOs, predominantly involving sexual / reproductive health & women's development and rights, and established the Bangladesh Women's Health Coalition in 1979. In 1988 she was awarded the international STIMEZO Prize for her contribution to making abortion safe worldwide.

3. Rehana Parvin is teacher by profession and has lived in Britain since arriving with her parents in the late 70's. She is very interested in issues affecting Bangladeshis as well as the wider Muslim community. Rehana is a member of Womens' Association of Professionals and appear regularly on Bangla TV and Islam Channel to discuss topics relevant to women living in Britain.

4. Rushanara Ali grew up in Tower Hamlets, studied at Mulberry School and Tower Hamlets College. She is currently an Associate Director of the Young Foundation and head of research, external relations and international projects. She has previously worked at Home Office's Communities Directorate, leading a project in response to the 2001 riots in the North of England. She has also worked on human rights issues at various places. Rushanara also worked for Michael Young on a project, which paved the way for Tower Hamlets Summer University that has been successfully replicated around London. She is a Commissioner for the London Child Poverty Commission, Chair of Tower Hamlets Summer University and SummerUni London, a Board Member of Tower Hamlets College, a Trustee of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and a member of the Tate Britain Council. She was a member of the Home Office Working Group on Preventing Extremism established after the 7/7 London bombings. Rushanara has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. In April 2007, she was selected as the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow.

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