Community Work

Prem Sharma has been actively involved in community work for over 40 years, both locally and on a national level. He has worked with people of all communities in his local area, including refugees and international professionals. In 1979 he pioneered the concept of Community Centres for minority communities.

A community centre was set up in Reading and continues to flourish today.

He also set up the Reading Business Network to link the ethnic minorities’ business abilities with the mainstream small business community.

Young people engaged in conferences in Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Reading and London.

Educational materials were produced for better understanding and relationships between communities, including 'Friends, Strangers, Citizens' (produced by South Asian Development Partnership) and 'Things Do Change' (produced by Calderdale Council).

These were used effectively and were also shown to the Department for Education, as well as to the Shadow Education Secretary. They agreed their value and planned to use them but were unable to follow up, for various reasons.

Dr Sharma commented, 'I believe if these materials had been incorporated into the schools' curriculum and taught at all levels, over the past ten years, we would see a difference today. Many of the current issues we are now facing reflect the fact that young people have not been taught sufficiently how to relate to people of different backgrounds, and how to understand cultures and faiths.'