An organisation raising awareness about the inequalities minority communities face opened a new space in Swindon over the weekend and invited the whole community to celebrate the launch.

Changing Suits is a non-profit organisation - set up by sisters Bal Kaur and Taj Sandhu - that aims to challenge cultural taboos in the South Asian community and address social isolation.

They opened their space ‘The Hutti’ behind Broadgreen Community Centre on Sunday (May 19) – a base for people to socialise and attend workshops ranging from mother and baby sessions to Bollywood dance lessons.

Swindon’s first mayor of Indian heritage, councillor Imtiyaz Shaikh, chose Changing Suits as one of his charities for the year and cut the ribbon to officially open the venue, saying it was a ‘privilege’ to be invited and a ‘very important place for people to connect to help break down cultural taboos.’

Swindon borough councillors were also invited to join in the fun, including a tug-of-war between the community and the councillors, where the community won, free Indian food, Gidha (Punjabi folk dancing) and a Bollywood dancing lesson.

Co-founder Bal said: “Changing Suits has been running for three years now and we started with the podcast where we look at cultural issues and taboos that people are too scared to talk about and raise awareness of those issues.

"We understand because we’re second-generation British women that are from here, but we’ve been lucky enough to come from an amazing community and culture.

“From that we’ve started health awareness events and working with service providers to make sure the whole community and all minority communities get the support they need.

"We’ve started off with the South Asian community, but it really is for the whole community. Please come along, everyone is welcome.”

Taj added: “We listen to what the community need and it’s all about wellbeing. We’re hoping people will join us and tell us what they need.

"We want to work with everyone because we are the bridge between service providers and the community.

“The Hutti is there so people can come along and get out of that social isolation, it’s a fantastic place to meet people.”

Bal and Taj are planning their next big event in June to raise awareness of cancer and spotting the symptoms early and they are also hosting other events around Swindon, such as a walking group around Lydiard Park.