Welcome to Bangladeshi Today

• The Bangladeshi population in Sunderland consists of around 4000 people, about 1% of Sunderland's total population.
• It is a very young population, more than 50% are aged between 16-30.
• The main community is in Hendon (approx 1200+) though there are also communities in Barnes, Pallion, Millfield and Thornhill.
• 2 local Mosques (Chester Road and Hendon) serve the religious needs of the local community.
• The Bangladeshi Centre on Tatham Street in Hendon is the main community meeting point; mosques are used only for religious purposes.

Almost all locals are speakers of the Syhleti dialect of Bengali (as most families came from the Bangladesh province of Syhlet) and most (around 70%) speak English, especially younger people. In fact 3 main languages are used by the Bangladeshi community - Bengali, English and Arabic (which is usually read rather than spoken as it is the language of the Koran).

Almost all households have one member of the family that speaks English. Family, religion and tradition dominate Bangladeshi life and culture. Community members revere religious, family and community elders - extended families live in close proximity. Islam dominates and informs the community's lives, culture and thinking.

Families tend to be strict with their children, the community has high moral values and tends to be hard working and self policing. There is a marked split between younger and older groups. Younger groups educated in the UK tend to be more ‘dual culture’ seeing themselves as ‘transitional’ revering their culture but enjoying interests outside of it like Western music and dress. Older groups tend more toward their traditional Bangladeshi culture, are less English speaking, more religious and dress traditionally.

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