By Ben Stevens
One of the largest Indian community organisations in Leicester continues to serve the local area through hosting events and other charitable work.
The Shree Prajapati Association in Leicester hosts regular events and classes such as youth clubs and keep fit sessions for men and women and is well respected within the Gujarati community in the city.
The branch works with other Prajapati groups across the country to hold national events such as ‘Prajapati’s Got Talent’ earlier this month.
Yogesh Mistry, a member of the group, said: “We have always been very proud of our charity work and our work in the community.
“The events we have run have always been great fun and it’s fantastic to see people coming together to take part in them.
“It’s been hard to do what we normally do because of the pandemic but we have been holding a range of events both online and in-person.”
The Shree Prajapati Association in Leicester was officially formed in 1975 but its members were fundamental in forming the first Gujarati school in Leicester in the 1960s.
The foundation then began to slowly expand and in 1992 were able to acquire its own buildings for the first time and the site in Ulverscroft Road is still used today.
Many of the original members of the association had moved to the city from East Africa and India during the 1950s and 1960s and presently the majority of the members have connections to Gujarat in Western India.
Gujaratis have historically had significant ties with the United Kingdom.
The East India Company, which would ultimately become the basis for the formation of the British Raj, was founded in 1600 in Surat in Gujarat.
