London Writing Guy

Did you know 68% of South Asians cannot swim (at least 25m)? Not only that, but 78% of South Asian females identify as not being able to swim, either! In this episode, I speak to Senior BBC journalist Summaya Mughal about her very own award winning podcast (Brown Gal Can't Swim). After interviewing Team GB swimmer Alice Deering, Summaya realised that someone needed to raise awareness of the challenges the South Asian community were facing when it came to swimming. I speak to Summaya about how the podcast came together, her path into journalism and much more.

What is a Desi pub? The word "Desi" comes from the Sanskrit word Des, or Desh, meaning homeland. More specifically, a South Asian homeland. In my conversation with it's author, we talk about Britain's racist history that led to these pubs being set up, why they were important then, why they are still important today and the amazing stories behind these establishments. Follow David on Instagram: www.instagram.com/daviddesipubs Follow David on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/davidjesudason Buy the book here: https://camra.org.uk/publications/desi-pubs/# David's Substack: https://davidjesudason.substack.com/

Mandy Kaur Moore, amongst other things, is the President of The Sikh Games. I spoke to Mandy about her career to-date, how The Sikh Games came to be and why we need them. Follow The Sikh Games on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesikhgames/

Aside from his popular podcast, The Bhandwagon Podcast, Ricky Bhandal has been heavily involved in projects aiming to identify and summarise the physical health, mental health, lifestyle behaviour and wider determinants of health-related issues that affest specific communities both nationally and in Birmingham. In our conversation, Ricky gives us a brief insight of what the state of play is. Starting out as a drug addiction worker, Ricky built a bit of a niche for himself as one of the very few Asians working in the drug & alcohol system. His work eventually led him to creating The National Substance Misuse Conference highlighting barriers for all in the system. FOLLOW RICKY ONLINE Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ranjitbhandal Twitter - https://twitter.com/ranjitbhandal The Bhandwagon Podcast (Instagram) - https://www.instagram.com/bhandwagon/ FOR SUPPORT ISSUES RELATED TO ALCOHOLISM OR DEPRESSION, SEE LINKS BELOW: - www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk - AA is concerned solely with the personal recovery and continued sobriety of individual alcoholics who turn to the Fellowship for help. - https://www.samaritans.org/ - Samaritans offer listening and support to people and communities in times of need. They give people ways to cope and the skills to be there for others, as well as encourage, promote and celebrate those moments of connection between people that can save lives. - https://www.mind.org.uk/ - Mind is a mental health charity who provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. - https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/ - Drinkaware provides independent alcohol advice, information and tools to help people make better choices about their drinking. - https://www.taraki.co.uk/ - Taraki work with Punjabi communities to improve access to mental health awareness, education, social supports, and research through culturally safe activities to better care for themselves and one-another. - https://sikhyourmind.com/ - Sikh Your Mind aims to increase awareness of mental health difficulties in the Sikh community. - https://asranow.ca/ - Asra Now is a Punjabi Alcohol Resource and acts as a starting point for Punjabi families who struggle with alcohol use and are seeking help for themselves or a loved one. INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy  WEBSITE: www.londonwritingguy.com TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots MUSIC: Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats

On the 23rd of April 1973, the National Front decided to hold a meeting in Southall town hall. The local community, made up of a large South Asian and West Indian population, saw this as a provocative act. Protests against the National Front holding this meeting were arranged and the local community came out in force. On the day itself, the local community clashed with the police, who were seen to be protecting the National Front. The police used unnecessarily violent and heavy-handed tactics to manage the event. Blair Peach, a teacher from New Zealand, was unfortunately murdered as a result of a blow to the head from a police officer. A report was carried out into Blair Peach’s murder, which revealed that Blair was almost certainly killed by police at the demonstration. However, the report was covered up and hidden until 2010. This conversation is with Ravi Jain. Ravi, at the time, was the General Secretary for the Association of Asian Youth. I speak to Ravi about the events that led to this day and the day itself. INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy  WEBSITE: www.londonwritingguy.com TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots MUSIC: Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats

Shuranjeet Singh is the founder of Taraki, not-for-profit organisation that works with Punjabi communities to reshape approaches to mental health. Using a non-clinical but community-centred approach, Taraki supports people with their mental health and well-being. It’s a unique and incredibly useful approach, as it can be taken forward by anyone and everyone. In this conversation, I speak to Shuranjeet about Taraki’s origin story, the work Shuranjeet and the Taraki team are doing, as well as the techniques used to get these conversations happening. FOLLOW TARAKI ONLINE WEBSITE: https://www.taraki.co.uk/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TarakiHQ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/tarakihq/ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@tarakihq STAY UP TO DATE INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy  WEBSITE: www.londonwritingguy.com TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots MUSIC: Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats

Jitesh Chauhan is the subject of his own documentary, entitled “I’m Jit and I’m an alcoholic. It tells Jit’s story through active addiction, the pains, the trauma and the story of his recovery. I spoke to Jit about his time in addiction, the recovery and what he’s gained as a result of being in recovery. FOLLOW JITESH ONLINE - Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jit_Chauhan FOR SUPPORT ISSUES RELATED TO ALCOHOLISM OR DEPRESSION, SEE LINKS BELOW: www.twitter.com/freeinrecovery - Free In Recovery is a Grassroots peer led recovery support service for those in active addiction, their families and friends. Supporting those from the minority communities. https://www.bac-in.org/ - BAC-IN is a Nottingham based specialist drug and alcohol recovery service aimed at individuals, families and carers from Black, South Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.  A community inspired, grass roots organisation founded in 2003 by individuals in recovery. www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk - AA is concerned solely with the personal recovery and continued sobriety of individual alcoholics who turn to the Fellowship for help. https://www.samaritans.org/ - Samaritans offer listening and support to people and communities in times of need. They give people ways to cope and the skills to be there for others, as well as encourage, promote and celebrate those moments of connection between people that can save lives. https://www.mind.org.uk/ - Mind is a mental health charity who provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/ - Drinkaware provides independent alcohol advice, information and tools to help people make better choices about their drinking. https://www.taraki.co.uk/ - Taraki work with Punjabi communities to improve access to mental health awareness, education, social supports, and research through culturally safe activities to better care for themselves and one-another. https://sikhyourmind.com/ - Sikh Your Mind aims to increase awareness of mental health difficulties in the Sikh community. -          https://asranow.ca/ - Asra Now is a Punjabi Alcohol Resource and acts as a starting point for Punjabi families who struggle with alcohol use and are seeking help for themselves or a loved one. INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy  WEBSITE: www.londonwritingguy.com TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots MUSIC: Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats

Fateh Singh is a Nottinghamshire County Cricket club all-rounder. He wants to do it all. Still 18 years old and just having signed a new two-year contract at Notts, time is definitely on his side. FOLLOW FATEH SINGH ONLINE Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/fxtz_singh/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/fxtz_singh FOR SUPPORT ON LIVING WITH ALOPECIA, AND OTHER RESOURCES, VISIT ALOPECIA UK - https://www.alopecia.org.uk/ Original Write-Up: https://www.londonwritingguy.com/post/a-conversation-with-shruti-saujani-ecb-engagement-lead-for-equality-diversity-and-inclusion INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy WEBSITE: www.londonwritingguy.com TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots MUSIC: Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats

Shruti Saujani is the Engagement Lead for ED&I at the ECB. I speak to Shruti about leading the Dream Big Desi Women initiative, a programme set up to retain and expand the female coaching network in order to deliver more women’s and girls’ cricket, led by female coaches. We discuss the success of the initiative, Shruti's path into working within sport and her inspirations. Learn more about the Dream Big Desi Women initiative: Dream Big Desi Women programme reaches 2000 volunteers landmark Express your interest to become a volunteer: https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/1644976 Original Write-Up: https://www.londonwritingguy.com/post/a-conversation-with-shruti-saujani-ecb-engagement-lead-for-equality-diversity-and-inclusion   INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy  WEBSITE: www.londonwritingguy.com TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots MUSIC: Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats

Whether you realise it, or not, we all Code-Switch. But if you're from a minority group, Code-Switching could have significant consequences on your career and mental health. This is a direct reading of my write-up, entitled "A conversation about Code-Switching."  Link to written version: https://www.londonwritingguy.com/post/a-conversation-about-code-swtiching  A little about me and this podcast / blog - https://www.londonwritingguy.com/about  INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy  TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots WEBSITE: https://www.londonwritingguy.com/ MUSIC INTRO: Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats

Dr. Fletcher's research helped inform some of decisions made by the ECB, with regards to improving South Asian participation within English domestic cricket. Dr. Fletcher is a Reader in the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Leeds Beckett University. Whilst being a cricket fan, he is also a passionate advocate for race equality and social justice. He has many published academic works that cover ideas such as identity, nationalism, cultural resistance, the relationship between cricket and migration as well as much more. Read my original write-up from this conversation, here: https://www.londonwritingguy.com/post/a-conversation-about-race-equality-with-dr-thomas-fletcher  More recently, Dr. Thomas Fletcher's work has been focussed on tackling online hate in Football. You can find out more about this here: https://tohif.com/  Music from Munah Boparai - www.instagram.com/munny_beats Written blog pieces available on www.londonwritingguy.com A little about me and this podcast / blog - https://www.londonwritingguy.com/about INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots

Asian Women Mean Business (AWMB) offers coaching, mentoring and support for South Asian women, daring to dream bigger. I spoke to its founder, Rupinder Kaur. Visit the AWMB website - https://www.asianwomenmeanbusiness.com/  Written blog pieces available on www.londonwritingguy.com A little about me and this podcast / blog - https://www.londonwritingguy.com/about  INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/londonwritingguy TWITTER: www.twitter.com/harjots