Engagement with Blandford Camp & Blandford Town Nepali-Gurkha communities, supports UK Nepali community on UK Nepali heritage project and advice access project

The UKNFS has been privileged to be working since earlier this year with the Blandford Camp Gurkha community on a number of fronts, the principle initial one being involvement in and contribution to the UKNFS facilitated UK Nepali community cultural & social heritage project. 

In forming through the heritage initiative, a deeper connection has been forged with the Blandford Camp’s Gurkha community, and in particular its need for greater support in areas around community support & related wellbeing for families of serving soldiers & officers, and the retired Gurkha community living in or near to Blandford Forum.  A part of this action has involved working with Dorset Community Action, to enable the community to establish their own constituted group. 

We wish to thank Captain Gopal Saru ji, Captain Robin Rai Ji and Sgt Major Saindra Chemjong for their support, guidance, as leads on the community support and heritage project, and through them we are delighted to be working with the Royal Signals Museum, a national organisation of great importance for British Army military history and for the QGS, Queens Gurkha Signals. It is exciting and an exceptional outcome that through the support of the Blandford Camp Gurkha community leads referred to, that the UKNFS facilitated UK Nepali cultural & social heritage project is contributing to the development of the Royal Signals Museum display and information: our contribution will in particular be through information resources generated by the project with the support of the serving Gurkha community. 

We will provide updates on this work in early 2020, including on when a launch of the heritage project information resources (website & book/e-book).

The UKNFS in regard to its UK Nepali community support on community voice and actions concerning interactions with British national and local government, and public service organisations that have been being taken forward at the request of our Nepali community in England at main and minor Nepali community locations (such as Nth Hants, Kent, London, and also Dorset/Blandford) has been honoured to support on the request of the Blandford Camp and Blandford Town Nepali-Gurkha community, work to establish a constituted society. 

This will greatly amplify the self-help/support that the Nepali-Gurkha community have been unaided to date, undertaking on a number of fronts for the pastoral care of Gurkha families and a number of other areas, including the Blandford Camp based brilliant ground-breaking Nepali language classes group with its talented, dedicated team of volunteers. 

The UKNFS facilitated advice project outcomes and information resources and related supportive networks have been greatly recognised as key elements in taking forward this work by the Nepali-Gurkha community at Blandford, whose issues and related needs will now be represented through the community & UKNFS collaboration, that has already secured fantastic support regarding creation of the new society, through UKNFS introduction, by Dorset Community Action (https://www.dorsetcommunityaction.org.uk/) on guidance to the Blandford Nepali-Gurkha community in taking forward through the new society its exceptional pastoral self-assistance work.