The evening kicked off with some children from the local primary school singing Food Glorious Food from the musical Oliver! Then Lorraine Barrett, Cardiff South Member of the Welsh Assembly, spoke about her work with the Bangladeshi community in Cardiff, most recently supporting them in their efforts to raise money for the victims of Cyclone Sidr.
Jules' nieces - Clara and Freya with their friend Clare - then recited a poem entitled Let's Help (which they had written specially for the event) about disadvantaged children all over the world. The first half continued with performances from Sound Women - a community singing group of which Jules' mum is a committed member! The interval was a time to sample chicken bhuna, vegetable bhaji, pilau rice and naan - provided by Penarth's own Bangladeshi restaurant, Jaflon.
In the second half Sound Women presented more songs from a diverse range of countries such as Mozambique, France and Bulgaria and got the audience participating too. The evening finished with a speech given by the Mayor of Penarth who stressed the fact that though Bangladesh might seem very far away, it was events like these that reminded us that we were one world and all connected.
After paying for the hire of the hall, food and decoration the event raised 1000.52GBP for the fund.
