Bangladeshi summer fair shines spotlight on health

On a blissfully sunny day in Whitechapel, the Bangladeshi community came together in large numbers to take control of their health, while enjoying live music, entertainment, and time with friends and neighbours.

Held on Saturday 31 May at the Brady Arts & Community Centre on Hanbury Street in Whitechapel, the Bangladeshi Summer Health Fair and Musical Programme was just what the name promised: a mix of fun, culture, and important health information.

Udichi Shilpi Gosthi, established in 1989 by Bengali artists based in the UK, organised the Summer Fair with funding from NHS England London, working in partnership with London Bangladeshi Health Partnership.

Hundreds of local people — along with a wide range of health organisations — stepped out of the sunshine and into the community centre to take up the free health checks and advice on offer. These included:

• Blood pressure checks

• Information about cancer screening and symptoms

• Updates on the HPV vaccine

• Support to stop smoking

• Free COVID-19 vaccinations

Caroline Cook, Early Diagnosis Programme Lead for the Cancer Alliance, delivered a compelling, engaging – and timely, given the weather – presentation on cancer prevention, with a particular focus on sun safety to help prevent skin cancer.

After her talk, community group leaders came over to the cancer alliance information stand asking for more talks to be given at their future meetings, highlighting the growing demand for learning more about cancer and finding out about the free support that is available.

Do you know the age that breast screening starts? What are some of the main cancer symptoms for cancer to look out for? How do you check for prostate cancer? These were some of the burning questions the team tackled on the day, as visitors flocked to the cancer alliance information stall to find out the answers, as well as to pick up key life-saving information about cancer services in north east London.

Paul Thomas, Communications and Engagement Manager for North East London Cancer Alliance, said “Yet again, a fantastic local event like this has demonstrated the value in the NHS going out to meet the community face-to-face. Conversations in a relaxed environment with key trusted leaders have opened up even more opportunities to work closely with our local population and to deliver key information that might not get accessed without these kind of events.

“I would like to thank key partners such as Riyad Karim and Khasruz Zaman from the London Bangladeshi Health Partnership, Bashir Uddin from Bangla Housing and Saley Ahmed from Tower Hamlets Council, as well as all our community groups and voluntary organisations across north east London for connecting us so effectively with our local people.”

For more information

Free cancer screening programmes: https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/preventing-cancer/cancer-screening-programmes

Cancer signs and symptoms: https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/preventing-cancer/signs-and-symptoms

Prostate Cancer: https://prostatecanceruk.org/