What a lovely group of passionate people attended the 7th Zoom public meeting organised by  BritBanglaCovid ,  since beginning of the pandemic, on 9th January at 3pm when we could easily have left everything for a day of sunshine! As usual, we covered Covid-19 in a very intelligent way and for which I am so grateful to my panelists:  Professor Patrick Vernon OBE FrHistS , Rokhsana Fiaz (Mayor of Newham)  Chris Tang ,  Rachel Blake ,  Shirina Ali  and others. We have covered from health, community, local authority, and most importantly, from the perspective of structural inequality that had already existed in our community when it comes to the question of Bangladeshis and other minority communities in London. It was such a pleasure to hear from everyone. There would not have been  BritBanglaCovid   without your support and belief in BritBanglaCovid! Thank you for being part of   BritBanglaCovid  world! ‘'Bangladeshi group was the only ethnic group...the highest vaccine uptake at 91.

BritBanglaCovid has organised its first online Zoom meeting since discovery of a new variant of Covid, Omicron.    Please register on EventBrite: here However, regardless of a number of challenges due to beyond the control of minority communities:   ‘'Bangladeshi group was the only ethnic group...the highest vaccine uptake at 91.7%.'’ This is according to the British government's Covid Disparities Report published on 3 December 2021. We have leaders from health, local and central governments, academic and grassroots members to encourage vaccination and to encourage positive discussion. SPEAKERS : Prof Patrick Vernon OBE - Health Campaigner Rokhsana Fiaz OBE - Mayor of Newham Rachel Blake - Deputy Mayor of Tower Hamlet Cabinet Member of Adult Health & Well-being. Chris Tang - Linguistic Education- Kings College London Shirina Ali - Community Advocacy Manager at Limehouse Project. Abdi Hassan - Founder of Cafe Afrik CIC We know there is vaccine hesitation in our commu

Join BritBanglaCovid's next Zoom Public meeting on 13 December at 3pm. Link:  here We are seeing poverty level rising, minority communities losing jobs and dying . What can we do about it? Ask your questions and share your experience to those who have the chance to shape our communities. Guest Speakers: Bill Bowring - Criminology professor Phil Glanville - Mayor of Hackney Charlotte Hughes - Journalist and social media influencer IMA Miah - CEO of Asian Resource Centre Rokhsana Fiaz - Mayor of Newham Lilu Wheeler - NHS Project Manager

SHIRINA ALI'S EXPERIENCE OF COVID WAS REAL WHEN TWO COLLEAGUES OF HER HUSBAND  AND HER COUSIN DIED.  FINANCIAL LOSSES ARE ALSO IMMENSE. SHIRINA'S CHILDHOOD Born to a first generation Bangladeshi migrant family, Shirina is the eldest of 'many British siblings.' A self-confessed ‘Tower Hamlets girl’ was born and brought up in this borough. Little did she know then that she would also marry in Tower Hamlets.    At the age of 17, she was married off to a man chosen by her grand father.    As a teenager, the world of motherhood was hard for her at first. She had to cook, clean and learn new ways of living with he r husband. During her A-Level exams, she was fully pregnant with her first girl.    She missed going to   the cinemas, gossiping with her friends and learning to drive. These are many of  things her friends did whilst Shirina embraced her new life as a wife.   She confessed that as part of her marriage contract her husband would be the bread winner.  ‘It was kind of