BAG

We're excited to inform you that the Bangladesh Association Glasgow is hosting a two-day theatre workshop over the Easter holidays next week. This event will be led by the acclaimed theatre director, Sudip Chakroborthy, along with the distinguished TheatrEX group from Bangladesh. The workshop promises to offer a wealth of benefits that extend into various aspects of our lives. If you’re keen on joining us, please take a moment to complete this quick survey: https://forms.office.com/e/nuyi2JFJu6.

Additionally, you’ll find the detailed schedule of the event attached for your convenience. Please note, the sessions are flexible.

Thank you!

It was a busy day for friends of BHASHA yesterday.

Migrant Voice arranged a language exchange session at the Garnethill Multicultural centre. Language enthusiasts of the city assembled and learned different languages over a healthy and delicious lunch!

Students of Kings Park secondary school held a most vibrant and colourful programme to commemorate the Mother Tongue day.

BAG President and VP were sharing the message of our festival to the greater community.

We thank our partners for being part of the journey of BHASHA, Your support and collaboration is deeply appreciated!

Let's continue to celebrate language, culture, and unity together!

The Bhasha 2024 has officially commenced with a captivating Opening Ceremony of the International Mother Language Day!

We were privileged to have Dr. Antonella Sorace, Founder and Director of Bilingualism Matters and Professor at the University of Edinburgh, grace us with her insightful talk. Her presentation was incredibly resourceful and thoroughly enjoyed by all attendees.

Stay tuned for more enriching events and activities as we celebrate linguistic diversity and cultural heritage throughout Bhasha 2024!

Bhasha Glasgow Language Festival # Bilingualism Matters

Today, on what would have been the birthday of our late President, Mrs. Mridula Nasreen Sarwar, we distributed food, personal hygiene items, and other essentials to homeless individuals at the Homeless Project Scotland.

These donations were made possible by the funds raised by BAG in her memory. Additionally, we donated items to the charity "Refuweegee." May Allah accept all these donations on behalf of her departed soul.

On Saturday, January 6th, BAG hosted a heartwarming Informal Get Together & EC Meeting at the Bishopbriggs War Memorial Hall. 🤝🏛️ It was a delightful gathering where BAG members relished quality time together. Our EC members met with trustees and community members, savored a delicious lunch, and celebrated our recent achievements, including awards and nominations!

The Bangladesh Association Glasgow had the honor of being invited by Glasgow Museum to participate in the exhibit's grand opening. It's a tribute to the 4 million soldiers recruited from the subcontinent during the significant wars of the last century. Their remarkable legacy deserves recognition, and it's crucial to inform the public of their invaluable contributions.

The afternoon was nothing short of fantastic—a beautiful opportunity to share stories and connect with individuals from diverse religious denominations across South Asia. It's events like these that highlight the richness of our #ColourfulHeritage and the power of unity in our community.

BAG (Bangladesh Association Glasgow) in collaboration with DIG (Dawatul Islam Glasgow) hosted a full-day consular services clinic on Saturday, September 9th. We were honoured to welcome a highly efficient team from the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Manchester, led by Mr. Kazi Ziaul Hasan, the Assistant High Commissioner. Members of the Bangladeshi community residing in the greater Glasgow area received a wide range of consular services from 11 am to 5 pm.

This event was meticulously planned and executed with utmost professionalism by the leadership teams of BAG and DIG, supported by a dedicated group of well-organized volunteers. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the community for their outstanding cooperation during this event.

On Saturday, September 9th, we had the pleasure of hosting a celebratory event at the Kelvingrove Museum to mark the conclusion of phase 2 of our OSCH (Our Shared Cultural Heritage program from British Council) project.

The day commenced with our young participants attending an engaging public speaking workshop led by John Loughton from Dare2lead.

BAG organised a thrilling Summer Outing and Sports Day in the Mugdock Country park on 29th July’ Saturday, which was widely enjoyed by our community members. It conducted family fun games like Musical pillow passing, sack race, pass the parcel and chocolate race etc, which created cherished memories among us.

A number of Prizes were distributed by our advisor Mozammel Huq and the chair of trustee board Mr. Sarwar Hassan. Community members were entertained with delicious food and snacks served by the organisers and enjoyed beautiful nature of the park. The event ended with a scenic trail walk in the Mugdock park and castle.

Bangladesh Association Glasgow and Glasgow Museums hosted a spectacular event at Kelvin Hall to celebrate the end of the Scotland’s Lascar Heritage project on 18th June 2023. Three documentaries named: “ Home and Us “, “ Nature and Us “ and “ Lascar and Us “ produced by Bangladesh Association of Glasgow were premiered on the event. Remarkably, two books on “ Scotland's Lascar Heritage “ were launched on this event as well. This extraordinary event was utterly enjoyed by the audiences and appreciated during the ‘Q & A session’.

Bangladesh Association Glasgow hosted a post-Eid get-together preceded by its Annual General Meeting ( AGM ) on the evening of 29th April 2023 at Bearsden Hub in the west end of Glasgow.

The event was attended and thoroughly enjoyed by community members from across Glasgow and beyond. We had the pleasure to receive MSP Foysol Choudhury MBE along with representation from our ongoing working partners.

Please join with ALL language speakers to show tribute to Bhasha Shaheeds on Saturday 25 February at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

Time:
OSCH Speaking and Writing: 1 to 2.30 pm at the education suite Sharing Languages: 3 pm to 4 pm at the education suite Exhibition and song: 1 to 4 pm at the central hall

Venue: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AG

Bangladesh Association Glasgow, with support from GCVS through the Glasgow Community Mental Health & Wellbeing Fund, held its first meditation session of 2023 at the beautiful Attic room in the Maryhill Burgh Hall on Saturday, 11th February 2023, led by Ms. Sujata Sriram from Art of Living. This was followed by a discussion on mental health and its effect on us. The event was a great opportunity to relax the mind and body, meet a few friends and enjoy some delicious refreshments! Two more sessions are planned, one on 18th February and the other on 18th March. Please join one or both two sessions and give your body and mind the break it needs and deserves!

In Bangladesh Association Glasgow, we always look for opportunities to help the community and wider mankind. So, when we heard about a local charity named “ Refuweegee “ and a Syria-based organization named “ White Helmets “, we decided to raise funds and donate the collections to these charities. You will be glad to know that we donated hygiene products to "Refuweegee," which works for the welfare of Syrian refugees and does many anti-racism works for Muslim communities in Glasgow. We also raised £500.00 and donated it to "White Helmets," an organization that tirelessly works to rescue survivors of earthquakes in Syria. We concluded this charity drive yesterday 11th February to celebrate the Birthday of our late President Mrs. Mridula Nasreen Sarwar.

BAG President Dr. Tareq Abdullah and Trustee Dr. Saif Khan talks about 'People' and the outcome of the Lascar Research Project on behalf of Bangladesh Association Glasgow and Glasgow Life at Museum Association conference 2022: Make change happen.

Lascars are seafarers who were employed by British Merchant ships during the colonial period. A large number of Lascars were recruited from Bangladesh. At the Glasgow Language Festival, 2019 Glasgow museums presented a metal plaque that was discovered at Stobcross quay near Queen's dock in Glasgow. It was scripted in English and Bangla. It says 'Lascars only'. Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Khan from Bangladesh Association Glasgow started research with Museum curators Isobel McDonald and Emily Malcolm. The contents of the research were used to produce a theatre production at the historic 'Tall ship Glenlee' built-in 1890s.

This is an environment-related project in conjunction with British Council and Glasgow Life. Our young generation went on a bird-watching trip and attended an environment-related workshop. The output from the partnership will be a documentary on climate change which we hope to premiere at some point soon.

This is another environment-related project working with our youth. The project involves holding environment related workshops and the public speaking training.

A number of meetings were held at the EC Board level to ensure all our planned activities were on track and progressing smoothly.
A couple of joint meetings were held with the Trustee board to share information and seek advice.

Every year, BAG raises money to buy healthy food (where possible) to donate to the needy. The EC Board, with the approval of the Trustees, agreed to continue this drive but in memory of our late President, Mridula Nasreen Sarwar. The drive will start on the 12th of December every year (the day of her sad demise) and end on the 12th of February (to mark her birthday). The money raised this year helped to donate food and other essential items to the Homeless Project Scotland and Refugee.

The Conference of the Birds is a Persian Poem by Sufi poet Fariduddin Attar.

The poetry is about the journey of birds through 7 valleys:
1. Valley of the Quest
2. Valley of Love
3. Valley of Knowledge
4. Valley of Detachment
5. Valley of Unity
6. Valley of Wonderment
7. Valley of Poverty and Annihilation (Anayalation)

We were contacted by The Necessary Space to translate the 7 valleys into music form.
Due to time constraints, we managed 5 out of the 7. Rasheeq composed the 4 music scores.