Chester House launch for £50,000 African settlement project

A National Lottery funded-project to help descendants of people from southern African countries document their journey to the UK has been launched in the county.

The Northants Southern African Settlement Project got off the ground with food, music, and dancing during the Jubilee weekend celebrations at Chester House Estate.

African Youth Arise received £50,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund to host a range of intergenerational activities, bringing people of southern African heritage together.

Rumbidzai Mukoyi, chairman of African Youth Arise, said: “It is very important to bring communities together through events like this. A lot of us have experienced isolation because of the pandemic, but now we have the opportunity to bring different generations together to learn from each other.

"There are skills and experiences that we can all share and benefit from, so we hope our event has helped to start some really important conversations.

"We would like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund and National Lottery Players for allowing us to host this hugely important event and celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.”

The funding allowed the organisation to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a street party at Chester House that included food, a marimba band and a photography exhibition, all relating to African settlement in the UK.

Skills and cultural exchanges, digital workshops and environmental and cooking activities, all aim to reduce isolation and improve mental wellbeing in the community.

African Youth Arise is one of 91 community projects across the UK to receive a share of £4.5m through The Platinum Jubilee Fund, which awarded National Lottery grants of up to £50,000 to community groups to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.

Blondel Cluff CBE, chair of The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “It was fantastic to share this moment in honour of the Platinum Jubilee with so many communities and National Lottery-funded groups. Thanks to the hard work of dedicated community groups and the support of National Lottery players we have been able to demonstrate the power of community spirit across the nation on which, I trust, we shall now build a tremendous legacy.”

Contact [email protected] for further information about the project.