The Heritage Lottery Fund has given Southall’s Panjabi Centre/Desi Radio a grant of £9,500 to promote the traditional art of Indian embroidery called Phulkari.

The Sharing Heritage grant is for a project called ‘Phulkari, the Art of Embroidery’ which aims to remind people of their heritage and preserve the vanishing art of this traditional embroidery work, known as Phulkari.

The Panjabi Centre will use the grant to visit museums that hold traditional Phulkaris and train volunteers in understanding their heritage as well as giving workshops in how to make Phulkaris. There will also be radio programmes investigating the tradition of the work.

The Panjabi Centre and Desi Radio, which are both based in Southall, work with the Panjabi community to promote Panjabi language and culture through hosting workshops and events and running one of the first community radio stations in the UK.

Ajit Khera from The Panjabi Centre, said: “We are thrilled to receive this grant to help us promote and raise awareness of the Panjabi heritage in the dying art of Phulkari embroidery”.

Stuart McLeod, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund South East England, said: “Our Sharing Heritage programme provides a wonderful opportunity for communities to delve into their local heritage. We are delighted to be able to offer this grant so that The Panjabi Centre can embark on a real journey of discovery and share what they learn about the lost art of Phulkari with a wider audience”.

The Sharing Heritage grant is for any not-for-profit group wanting to explore their community’s heritage.

With a commitment from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £3 million each year, grants between £3,000 and £10,000 are now available to groups who want to discover their local heritage.

Projects can cover a wide spectrum of subject matter from exploring local archaeology and a community’s cultures and traditions to identifying and recording local wildlife and protecting the surrounding environment to managing and training volunteers, and holding festivals and events to commemorate the past.