Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre

In response to the growing settlement of South Asians in the Belgrave area of Leicester, the local council purchased a former Methodist church and school in 1977 and created the Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre.

Belgrave is a significant site of South Asian settlement in Britain. Affordable housing and access to factory work for businesses such as the British United Shoe Factory catalysed the movement of Ugandan Asians in particular, who were rebuilding their lives in Britain following Ugandan President Idi Amin's expulsion order in 1972. In addition, Belgrave became an important place for networking among South Asians across Leicester and the Midlands, given the popularity of its South Asian clothing, food and entertainment businesses, such as the Natraj Cinema owned by Amrat Parmar.

The Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre, which is still in use, has been used for social, cultural and religious purposes by Belgrave residents and South Asians across Leicester. The centre also became a significant place of organizing among anti-racist activists who were resisting the National Front, a far-right white supremacist organization which targeted South Asian areas of Leicester as places to march or picket.

The centre has been influential in developing Leicester’s Diwali celebrations on Belgrave Road – also known as the Golden Mile – into the largest outside India.