THE young people and women of Swindon’s Tamil community will be brought closer to their culture once the new lockdown ends.

The Swindon Tamil Association has been awarded £2,000 from the Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund to help towards the cost of classes in Tamil language and culture, such as music and dance.

The Tamil association represents and cares for the growing number of families living in and around Swindon but with many losing hours or being furloughed it lost vital subscription revenue.

Lockdown 2 also put paid to English classes, just as they were returning to normal.

“We had been doing online lessons during the lockdown but it’s ironic that we had just started face-to-face lessons again when we had the second lockdown,” said association president Ram Thiagarajah.

“We don’t know what will happen on December 2, if the lockdown is extended, and then we will be getting closer to Christmas, so we won’t begin the lessons again now until January.

The association will be looking out for older members of the community by doing shopping and collecting prescriptions.

Mr Thiagarajah said: “We also have a group keeping in touch with our members through WhatsApp, we make sure we care for everyone and the grant from the Wiltshire Community Foundation will really help us.”

Mr Thiagarajah said although the community’s young people are essentially British, helping them connect with their language and culture is important for their identity.

“The parents will speak Tamil at home, but the children are at school speaking English all day, which is natural, and if their parents ask them a question in Tamil, they reply in English,” he said.

His wife Aruna was teaching English to adults at Swindon College night classes when one class of predominantly Tamils told her about their fears that their children were losing the connection with their culture. They set up the association, which runs 11 classes for young people from four to 17 at Park South and Walcot and Buckhurst community centres, taught by parents who were previously teachers in Sri Lanka and others who train in London.

“The children are learning how to write in Tamil and how to use the correct grammar,” said Mr Thiagarajah.

“What is heartening for me is that there are children who have taken A-levels in Tamil and got distinctions, it shows the teaching here is excellent.”

The children also learn music and dance and then get to demonstrate their prowess at colourful festival celebrations throughout the year, including Deepavali, a harvest festival on January 14 and Tamil New Year on April 14 or 15.

Mr Thiagarajah said: “They learn about British culture in school and with friends but what we do is to teach them the Tamil culture and how it differs and how it enhances their life. It’s not saying one is better than the other, it’s about them being in harmony.”

This year’s Deepavali tomorrow will be vastly different from usual.

“We usually have a big celebration with music and dance in the New College theatre where we have a lot of people from all communities in the town,” said Mr Thiagarajah. “It is very sad that we won’t be able to do that, but we will have an online festival.”

“It’s very frustrating for everyone, especially the teachers who are very enthusiastic and were looking forward to seeing all the children again. The grant will help us cover our running costs and we are very grateful.”

Families fleeing the civil war in Sri Lanka began moving to Swindon in 1983. Many wanted to start businesses and tried to bid for petrol station franchises.

Mr Thiagarajah added: “They couldn’t get franchises in London, so they moved along the M4 corridor. One or two of them ended up in Swindon and then more people came. Then when people came here from Sri Lanka, they moved to Swindon to join them. There is a thriving community here now. When I first came here in the 1980s there were only four families but now there are about 400.”

The Wiltshire and Swindon Coronavirus Response Fund has raised almost £1.2 million and distributed £950,000 to groups all over Swindon and Wiltshire through more than 200 grants.

To donate or to find out how to apply for a grant, go to wiltshirecf.org.uk