COMMUNITY

Elders’ Day in South London

THE SOUTH London Tamil Welfare group held a drama evening on May 27 to celebrate "Elders' Day." Several performers entertained the packed audience of two hundred and fifty people, with skits and songs.

The evening began with the traditional Tamil lighting of a lamp, which was followed by a Thevaram and an opening song, after which the opening welcome was given.

Among the performances were 'action songs' (such as Soldier, Soldier), a veena recital, a villapdhu delivery, along with short plays and dramas. The evening concluded with a dinner, which was preceded by a vote of thanks and a farewell song.

The SLTWG was established in 1985 as a community-based charity organisation by the late Mr. S. D. Balarajah to enhance the quality of life of the needy and underprivileged in the Tamil community, particularly, refugees and asylum seekers, by providing advisory and support services and promoting social cultural and economic development.

It was registered as a charity in 1991 and moved to its present premises in Colliers Wood, SW19 in 1998. It was registered as a company limited by guarantee in July 1998 and re-registered with a new charity number (1077602) in March 2000.The advisory service provided at present includes coverage of welfare benefits, immigration, the elderly, housing and employment as well as education and training.

"From its inception, the organisation has provided a unique service to the Tamil elders, especially in south London," said Mr. Kulasingam.

"However, May 27th marks a significant turn in the activities provided to the elders when the Elders Day was celebrated," he said. "All the events were prepared by the elders and they also participated in the events."

Building better Tamil businesses

LAST WEEKEND, the Tam-il Business Network, UK (TBN:UK) held its first workshop aimed at helping build better Tamil businesses in the UK. The TBN:UK was set up late last year by a group of Tamil businesspeople and academics with a commitment to building a business support network and helping to strengthen the performance of Tamil businesses.

"We wanted to form an organisation that functions like a chamber of commerce to identify challenges faced by Tamil businesses in financing, planning and controlling their businesses, and through the network helping them enhance their performance" says Sri Srikanthan, Senior Lecturer at the Cranfield University School of Management, a co-founder of the TBN:UK.

The TBN:UK estimates that there are over 600 businesses owned and operated by Tamil people in the UK. The organisation believes that while some businesses are well versed with operating in the UK, many do not have access to key information and services. A series of interactive workshops have been planned by TBN UK involving presentations and question and answer sessions with the help of successful Tamil businesspeople and professionals. The most recent workshop was attended by a number of Tamil businesspeople whose interests ranged from supermarkets to IT companies and professional practices.

Presentations were made on Financial Planning and Control by Mr Srikanthan, on Taxation by Mr A Arnold, a chartered accountant, and on the Law of Business by Mr S Sriskandarajah, a lawyer.

Buoyed by the enthusiasm shown for this recent event, the TBN:UK plans to continue its business advisory services through further workshops and Q&A sessions with these and other experts."By getting professionals in business-related fields to impart some of their expertise, we hope to help Tamil businesspeople overcome some of the hurdles of doing business in a new environment" says Mr Srikanthan. "We also hope to build connections between Tamil businesses. This way the whole community can gain."

The TBN:UK also hopes to extend its services through the broadcast media, taking advantage of the popularity of Tamil cable TV channels, Tamil radio programmes and the internet. The organisation is in the process of building a site at www.tbnUK.org. The site, together with a regular newsletter, will feature advice in areas such as law, taxation, training, health & safety, and business strategy.