Directed, Filmed & Edited by Alex & Luke.
Interview Transcription with CEO of Multicultural Cumbria
Date: Tuesday 2nd May 2023
Host: Luke Seed
Director: Alex Baker
Respondent: Saj Gafoor
Transcription
Luke Seed: Who is Multicultural Cumbria?
Saj Gafoor: Multicultural Cumbria is about engaging, empowering and enabling diasporas from all over the world that live and work here in Cumbria from children to adults.
Luke Seed: What work does Multicultural Cumbria do within the community?
Saj Gafoor: It’s really important with the diversity that we have in Cumbria that we are able to bring people together. Cumbria is developing into quite a diverse community with over 80 nationality heritages and for us it's about bringing them together to break down barriers whether they're social, religious, cultural, etc. And to enable the wider community to be able to see and experience the different cultures through food, music, dance and activities that cross all language barriers for a social opportunity to intergrate and be more cohesive.
Luke Seed: What event is currently taking place today?
Saj Gafoor: It’s a place where people come to engage and share their culture but more than that is really celebrating the differences but actually sharing our similarities as well. It is about the positive aspects of community life that we don’t always get to see so friendship is really important, and this brings everyone together to be happy and recognise how diverse we are.
Luke Seed: How does your organisation support young people within Cumbria?
Saj Gafoor: We work with the refugee groups, we work with arts groups as well. We generally work across the board because its so important to have that connection to see what is available to diasporas but also that introduction and that opportunity to collaborate and really show off the diversity that we have here
Luke Seed: How can young people get involved and see what Multicultural Cumbria is doing next?
Saj Gafoor: For us its reaching the young people really and celebrating their own heritage and being able to organise events like cultural bazaar is also where we really want the young people from all the community to start asking questions and finding out more about who they are and their identity. In a lot of cases when those conversations start happening a lot of other things come to light. To get engaged really, what were looking for is getting more people involved in organising events and the activities because for us we need to also learn how to work with young people and what their needs are within Cumbria. There's lots of exciting opportunities, not just cultural bazaar but also trying to see if there are events we can do with young people where they're leading it, and we're looking forward to doing some more of that.
Date: Tuesday 2nd May 2023
Host: Luke Seed
Director: Alex Baker
Respondent: Saj Gafoor
Transcription
Luke Seed: Who is Multicultural Cumbria?
Saj Gafoor: Multicultural Cumbria is about engaging, empowering and enabling diasporas from all over the world that live and work here in Cumbria from children to adults.
Luke Seed: What work does Multicultural Cumbria do within the community?
Saj Gafoor: It’s really important with the diversity that we have in Cumbria that we are able to bring people together. Cumbria is developing into quite a diverse community with over 80 nationality heritages and for us it's about bringing them together to break down barriers whether they're social, religious, cultural, etc. And to enable the wider community to be able to see and experience the different cultures through food, music, dance and activities that cross all language barriers for a social opportunity to intergrate and be more cohesive.
Luke Seed: What event is currently taking place today?
Saj Gafoor: It’s a place where people come to engage and share their culture but more than that is really celebrating the differences but actually sharing our similarities as well. It is about the positive aspects of community life that we don’t always get to see so friendship is really important, and this brings everyone together to be happy and recognise how diverse we are.
Luke Seed: How does your organisation support young people within Cumbria?
Saj Gafoor: We work with the refugee groups, we work with arts groups as well. We generally work across the board because its so important to have that connection to see what is available to diasporas but also that introduction and that opportunity to collaborate and really show off the diversity that we have here
Luke Seed: How can young people get involved and see what Multicultural Cumbria is doing next?
Saj Gafoor: For us its reaching the young people really and celebrating their own heritage and being able to organise events like cultural bazaar is also where we really want the young people from all the community to start asking questions and finding out more about who they are and their identity. In a lot of cases when those conversations start happening a lot of other things come to light. To get engaged really, what were looking for is getting more people involved in organising events and the activities because for us we need to also learn how to work with young people and what their needs are within Cumbria. There's lots of exciting opportunities, not just cultural bazaar but also trying to see if there are events we can do with young people where they're leading it, and we're looking forward to doing some more of that.