Around 700AD, a Saxon called Gilla came to Britain and set up a community, which he named after himself – Gillingas.

This name has changed and mutated a great deal over the centuries, from 'Illing' to Ylling and more besides, before finally becoming 'Ealing' in the 19th century.

So, Ealing’s very foundations are built on a migrant culture, its name alone telling us that it has always been a place of tolerance and diversity. This will surely come as no surprise to residents, but how much do we really know about the experiences of these foreign settlers?

Westside Radio are now giving everyone a chance to find out – but we need your help!  We need a team of volunteers to help us put together an imaginative and dynamic new project that explores Ealing’s cultural heritage, while also raising awareness of some of the difficulties the migrant communities may have encountered.

‘Welcome to Ealing’ will use radio docu-dramas to tell the stories of individuals from the four largest migrant groups to have settled in the borough: the South Asian, Somali, West Indian and Mid-Eastern Communities.

This is where you come in! We hope to recruit a team of 60 volunteers and train them in research techniques; they will then conduct interviews with fifteen participants from the four migrant communities, and the results will form the basis of the docu-dramas. If you think you’ve got what it takes, we’d love to hear from you!

Not only will this project be a fantastic opportunity for local communities to tell their story of how and why they chose to settle in Ealing, it will also give people a chance to learn about the area’s heritage and the plight of migrant communities, as well as helping to encourage cohesion.

This is a really exciting project that aims to encourage our listeners to engage with their local community, raise awareness of our cultural history and celebrate all that the migrant communities have contributed to this vibrant area of London.

If you would like to be a volunteer on this project, please contact us at info@westsideradio.co.uk, or call us on 020 8571 9700.

Westside Radio are also currently looking for new hosts and presenters – if you’re interested and would like to get involved, please send a CV/Demo to the above email address, or call us for a chat.