The lives and livelihoods of UK Bangladeshis have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

Since the end of the first lockdown, King’s College London together with the Swadhinata Trust have been investigating how the community has experienced COVID-19. The project also explored how elders, and their families and carers, accessed and shared information about the virus. As society opens in the face of an uncertain winter, it is essential that messages are framed in accessible and culturally relevant ways to maintain recovery and sustain confidence and awareness about important measures, such as vaccination.

In this public event on 9 September, we will discuss what we have learned, one year on. We will share our animated short video entitled ‘A Corona Story,’ which tells the story of the community through the eyes of a Bangladeshi family living in East London.

We will also hear from our partners at the Swadhinata Trust and Ripon Ray, who has been an important voice for the community through BritBanglaCovid.

We also want to hear from YOU – members of the public and civil society who have supported the community and each other through this difficult year. There will be a Q&A about the project and film. We also want to hear your ideas about what lessons we have learned from the pandemic, and what we need to do moving forward. We will take the results of our discussions to government decision makers, academics, and health policy makers and practitioners.

Speakers

• Ripon Ray, founder of BritBanglaCovid
• Julie Begum, chair of the Swadhinata Trust
• Dr Chris Tang and Dr Mark Cabling, lead researchers, King’s College London

Panel for Q&A

• Diwas Bisht (Animator and Director)
• Chris Tang (King’s College London)
• Julie Begum and Ansar Ahmed Ullah (Swadhinata Trust)
• Ripon Ray (BritBanglaCovid)
• Kazi Ruksana Begum (study participant and London Borough of Tower Hamlets Arts Development Officer)

You will receive instructions on how to join the event a week in advance. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Mark Cabling at mark.cabling@kcl.ac.uk.