KECC working in partnership with Cohesion Plus Kent and Gravesham Borough Council are pleased to announce the performance of Aman Hayer and the Entourage including Benny Dhaliwal and Angrez Ali with full live band at the London Calling Festival in Gravesend on July 21. This pre-Olympic party on the Prom in Gravesend will also feature leading Rolling Stones Tribute Act “The Counterfeit Stones”, Amy Whinehouse and the Kinx.
Aman Hayer commented “I am looking forward to performing in Gravesham in July 21. It will be the first time that I along with my Entourage including Benny Dhaliwal and Angrez Ali will perform in Gravesend with our live band. I pay credit to the organisers of the festival for putting together an exciting line up which pays tribute to some of the great British bands and we look forward to getting the audiences up and dancing during our set.”
Gurvinder Sandher the Director of KECC said “We have been working in partnership with Gravesham Borough Council for a number of years around the Summer Festival and this year again we have delivered an exciting line with music from the 1960’s up-to the modern day. In Olympic year festivals like this reinforce the core Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship and we hope the community of Gravesham will come out in force to support this free community celebration.”
Full Timetable:
2.45pm Rebel Truce (Clash Tribute Band)
3.45pm The Kinx (Kinx Tribute Act)
4.45pm Paula Delaney (Lily Allen Tribute Act)
5.45pm Aman Hayer and the Entourage
7.00pm Amy Whinehouse
8.15pm Counterfeit Stones
9.45pm Fireworks Finale
Click here to view the poster of the event Author: susan
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London Calling Festival July 21
KECC working in partnership with Cohesion Plus Kent and Gravesham Borough Council are pleased to announce the performance of Aman Hayer and the Entourage including Benny Dhaliwal and Angrez Ali with full live band at the London Calling Festival in Gravesend on July 21. This pre-Olympic party on the Prom in Gravesend will also feature leading Rolling Stones Tribute Act “The Counterfeit Stones”, Amy Whinehouse and the Kinx.
Aman Hayer commented “I am looking forward to performing in Gravesham in July 21. It will be the first time that I along with my Entourage including Benny Dhaliwal and Angrez Ali will perform in Gravesend with our live band. I pay credit to the organisers of the festival for putting together an exciting line up which pays tribute to some of the great British bands and we look forward to getting the audiences up and dancing during our set.”
Gurvinder Sandher the Director of KECC said “We have been working in partnership with Gravesham Borough Council for a number of years around the Summer Festival and this year again we have delivered an exciting line with music from the 1960’s up-to the modern day. In Olympic year festivals like this reinforce the core Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship and we hope the community of Gravesham will come out in force to support this free community celebration.”
Full Timetable:
2.45pm Rebel Truce (Clash Tribute Band)
3.45pm The Kinx (Kinx Tribute Act)
4.45pm Paula Delaney (Lily Allen Tribute Act)
5.45pm Aman Hayer and the Entourage
7.00pm Amy Whinehouse
8.15pm Counterfeit Stones
9.45pm Fireworks Finale
Click here to view the poster of the event -
Kent Mela’s and Community Festivals
KECC are pleased to be working in partnership with Cohesion Plus Kent and local authority partners on the Kent Mela’s and Community Festivals Programme. This will take in major celebrations which coincide with the Olympics and Paralympics in Gravesham, Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone. All the events are free and will feature an array of culturally diverse artists.
Please click here for further information. -
Guru Nanak Sports Festival
On Sunday May 27 the annual Guru Nanak Sport Festival took place at the Gurdwara site on Trinity Road. Around 3000 people who attended enjoyed a day of traditional sport from the Indian sub-continent. The main focal point of interest was the Kabbadi Tournament. Kabbadi is a popular sport which originates from the Indian Sub Continent. The aim of the game is to score points by raiding into the opponent’s court and touching one many defence player without getting caught on a single breath. 16 teams from around the UK including Coventry, Barking, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Leicester and Coventry participated alongside local teams from Gravesend, Medway and Erith.
Gravesend were the eventual winners beating Coventry, Leicester and local rivals Medway in the final which was greatly enjoyed by the home crowd.
The Festival was organised by the GNG Gravesend Kabbadi Club in partnership with the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara with the support of Kent Equality Cohesion Council.
Satnam Mothada from the GNG Gravesend Kabbadi Club said” I was very pleased with our performance, It is always good to win at your home tournament and to beat our local neighbours made it even sweeter. It was really good to see so many people come out and support this community sports festival and our event in Gravesend is recognised around the UK as one of the best organised. Much credit for that needs to go to our partners and volunteers who worked so hard on the day.”
Gurvinder Sandher from Kent Equality Cohesion Council said” A lot of hard work has gone into putting this event together. Much credit needs to go not only to the GNG Gravesend Kabbadi Club and Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara but also Kent Police and Gravesham Borough Council with whom we worked very closely in the build up and on the day itself to ensure everything ran smoothly. I strongly believe that our festival is a beacon for other Kabbadi festivals in the UK; this is mainly due to the strong partnerships that exist locally between the community and our statutory partners.”
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St George’s Day Celebrations
The flag of Saint George was waved proudly in Gravesham and Dartford as some of the biggest celebrations in England to mark the day of the Patron Saint of England took place in North Kent. Over 1250 school children took part in parades through the respective town centres which were aligned with members of the public waving their flags and encouraging the children taking part in the parade. Despite the poor weather members of the public were keen to show their support and celebrate Saint George’s Day.
The parades also involved live music including the Premier Brass Band, the Big Fish Arts Group and the Cultural Beats Dhol Drummers. Both parades climaxed with a performance by Big Fish around Saint George and the slaying of the dragon.
The Gravesham event took place in the morning and finished in the Community Square where the crowds were addressed by the Mayor of Gravesham Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi who thanked the children and the community groups who took part and highlighted the importance of celebrating events like Saint George’s Day. The celebrations in Dartford climaxed at the Band Stand in Central Park where the Mayor of Dartford Eddy Lampkin congratulated everyone who took part and thanked everyone involved in pulling the event together.
Gurvinder Sandher the Director of Kent Equality Cohesion Council who organised the celebrations said “I was overwhelmed with the positive feedback that we received not only from those taking part but also members of the public who I spoke to. I believe that it is important for communities to come together and celebrate events like Saint George’s Day and I would like to thank our partners Cohesion Plus, Gravesham Borough Council, Dartford Borough Council and Arts Council England for sharing our vision and helping us make it come a reality. Next year I am keen to expand beyond Gravesham and Dartford to other parts of Kent.”
Dartford
Click here to view a video of the Dartford celebrations.
Gravesham
Dartford
Gravesham
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Come and Celebrate Saint George’s Day
Over 1000 young people from 27 schools in Gravesham and Dartford will be taking part in community celebrations through Gravesend and Dartford town centres on April 23 to celebrate Saint Georges Day alongside musicians and creative artists.
Work has been taking place in local schools over the last 6 weeks to prepare special visual arts and craft displays which will be used during the school parade which will be led by the Big Fish Marching Band. The Premier Brass Band and the Cultural Beats Project. The focal point of the parade will be a model of Saint George which has been made by local children.
The aims of the events are to celebrate the patron Saint of England and the diversity of Gravesham and Dartford through music and visual arts.
Gravesham Saint Georges Day Celebrations April 23 between 10am and 11.30am
Dartford Saint George’s Day Celebrations April 23 between 1pm and 2.30pm
The celebrations has been organised by Cohesion Plus Kent and Kent Equality Cohesion Council supported by Arts Council England, Gravesham Borough Council, Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council.
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Police Community Meeting
Kent Equality Cohesion Council organised a community meeting on March 21 which took place at the Civic Centre in Gravesend. The meeting was addressed by Deputy Chief Constable of Kent Police Alan Pughsley, the Chief Executive of Kent Police Authority Graham Hooper and local Borough Commander Chief Inspector Philip Painter.
The purpose of the meeting was for local community groups to learn more about how Kent Police were working since their reorganisation in November 2011. Topics that were covered included how Kent Police continued to work with the diverse communities of Kent, stop and search, recruitment, the election of Police Crime Commissioners and the role of the Police and Crime Panels which will replace Kent Police Authority.
In addition there was a presentation made to young volunteers who had been working with the Kent Equality Cohesion Council on a community project focusing on developing a better understanding between the newer migrant communities and public agencies such as Kent Police and Gravesham Borough Council. A special presentation was also made to Lak Khaira from the Kent Youth Service for his help and support for this project.
Gurvinder Sandher the Director of Kent Equality Cohesion Council who organised the event said “The aim of the evening was for local community organisations from Gravesham and Dartford to learn more about the work of Kent Police both at a county and local level. I especially enjoyed the question and answer session at the end during which some searching questions were asked. I would like to commend Kent Police for their proactive approach in getting involved with this event and the feedback I have had from the community groups in attendance has been positive.”
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Listen to Our Voices – Women’s Event
More than 250 women attended the Women’s only Sadi Awaaz Suno (Listen to our Voices) event held at the Woodville Halls in Gravesend, on Friday 16th March.
The event was organised by Rethink Mental Illness and Kent Equality Cohesion Council.
The aim of the event was to look at issues such as domestic violence, forced marriages, women’s mental health issues and the different support services available to women in Gravesham. It also provided an opportunity for women to socialise and network.
The main speaker was Jasvinder Sanghera author and advocate for women’s rights and co-founder of Karma Nirvana, a community-based project who have several refuge centres across the United Kingdom which serve as safe-housing for South Asian women fleeing forced marriages. She spoke about her experiences and the need for there to be more awareness around the issue of honour based crime and forced marriages. She said that it was important for people to speak out and get help if they needed it. She explained that her organisation was working closely with the government and aimed to get the law changed so that more people could be protected in the future.
There was also a special play which was written and performed by local theatre group Walk Tall around the issues of honour based crime and forced marriages.
The conference was climaxed by a panel session which also included Kent Police who spoke about their work in this area and the support mechanisms which were in place to help women suffering quickly.
Gurvinder Sandher, Director of Kent Equality Cohesion Council, commented: “We have again had a really positive response to our event. Issues around honour based crime and forced marriage are not often discussed in the open, by us organising events like this we are aiming to raise awareness of these issues and inform people of where to get help and support if they require it. Only by the whole community working together can we tackle these issues and try to eradicate these practices. I would like to pay particular thanks to our partners Rethink Mental Health and the Kent People’s Trust.”
Carol Gosal, Rethink Mental Illness Services Manager for West Kent, said: “A lot of hard work went into pulling this event together. It all proved to be worthwhile with the fantastic attendance we had. Rethink mental Illness is committed to working in partnership with Kent Equality Cohesion Council and our statutory and community partners to make a positive difference to women who may need help and support with some of the issues which were discussed at the event.”
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London 2012 Cultural Champion Award from Minister
The Director of Kent Equality Cohesion Council received a prestigious award from Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd MP for his work in the arts at a ceremony on January 31st in London. Gurvinder was recognised as a London 2012 Cultural Champion for his innovative work in delivering arts projects and supporting the cultural sector in his work with Gravesham Borough Council who nominated him for the award. Over the past 12 months Gurvinder has been involved in a number of major arts projects in Gravesham including the Saint George’s Celebrations, Big Day Out Gravesham and the Festival of Light as well as similar events in Dartford, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.Gurvinder Sandher commented “I am very proud to have received this award from the Government Minister Mr Hurd who complimented me on my work and encouraged me to keep it up. I have always felt that the arts is a good way to bring diverse communities together and I look forward to showcasing this at our biggest ever Saint Georges Day celebrations taking place in Gravesham and Dartford on April 23rd. I am very grateful to our partners Gravesham Borough Council for nominating me for this award”
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Dartford Festival of Light Brings Town to a Standstill Oct 2011
Dartford Town Centre was brought to a standstill on Friday October 21 as around 800 people took part in the third Dartford Festival of Light. The parade involved 10 schools from Dartford along with their parents and members of the public who joined in as the parade went around. The children had been working hard in the preparation for the festival making lanterns and torches which they carried in the parade. In total around 500 children benefited from workshops in the build-up to the event.
The aim of the Festival of Light is to bring the communities of Dartford together through the arts, and was been inspired by the Cultural Olympiad which promotes the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship and the Paralympics values of empower, achieve and inspire.
The parade started on the green outside Central Library, it then went onto the High Street, before turning left at One Bell Corner and then head back towards the Bandstand in Central Park. The parade also featured the Bloco Fogo Samba Group and the Cultural Beats Dhol Drummers and was led by a delegation from Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council including the Mayor of Dartford Cllr. Eddy Lampkin, the Leader of Dartford Borough Council Cllr, Jeremy Kite and Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities at Kent County Council Avtar Sandhu. The Festival climaxed at the Bandstand in Central Park where the participants were thanked by Gurvinder Sandher the Director of Kent Equality Cohesion Council before they were presented with trophies from guests from Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council.
The Festival of Light was organised by Kent Equality Cohesion Council in partnership with local arts organisation Cohesion Plus with the support of Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council.
According to Gurvinder Sandher the Director of the Kent Equality Cohesion Council who co-ordinated the event “I was very pleased with how the Festival went. It was so good to see young people with their parents and grandparents coming together to take part in the parade and the entertainment at the end. Events like this not only showcase the positive community relations enjoyed in Dartford but also the importance of event like this in bringing different generations together to share joint experiences. As ever I am very grateful for the support provided by our partners Dartford Borough Council, Kent Police and Kent County Council.”
Click here to view images of the Dartford Festival of Light 2011
