Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is the largest square in London and has historical value.

Trafalgar used to be a courtyard of rows of houses that were converted from stables. the typical design would be rooms above, built round a yard or alley.  This used to serve the Whitehall palace. It used to be called Charing but later was changed to Charing Cross which is still seen today as an underground tube is named after this. During the 1800s, it has had undergone many changes and by 1830 it was officially named Trafalgar Square.

Furthermore an architect, Sir Charles Barry designed Trafalgar Square to link with the National Gallery  between 1840 to 1845.  The National Gallery was linked by staircases which included statues and two fountains. by 1867 everything was built including the bronze lions which is placed at the base of Nelson's columns.

The site of Trafalgar square had become a place where demonstration and rallies were held on political,religious or general issues. It is also a great public space which allows multicultural events to take place.

 Significant Moments in Trafalgar Square 

• May 2007, there was a campaign by London locals to promote 'green space', so the square was grassed over with 2,000 square metres for two days
• July 200,7 a parade was held to celebrate the 60th independence anniversary of Pakistan from Britain. 
• Eid Festival on July 2016.
• The fountains being died red in protest against cuts made to domestic violence services, by the feminist group Sisters Uncut in November 2015. Read the article here.

Meeting the Mayor!! (well not exactly)

To our surprise the annual Eid Festival, which is held in Trafalgar Square, was taking part on the same day that we decided to explore London in the hopes of finding what Multiculturalism truly meant, not just to ourselves but also to our fellow Londoners and the many tourists who travelled far just to attend the festival. The Eid festival is an event which is sponsored by the Mayor of London as a way of encouraging those of all faiths and cultures; religious or not to come and celebrate the end of Ramadan with fellow Muslims. As well as enjoying the festivities and the diversity and sense of community, we couldn't help but anticipate the arrival of the Mayor himself....Sadiq Khan! We all scurried along to the bus stop with the hope of catching an interview with the man himself. (yes, it does seem a bit unrealistic now but at the time it seemed like our biggest motivation)

As soon as we got there we couldn't believe the vast number of people that had already arrived. The atmosphere of the event was full of energy and laughs and not to forget the amazing smell of food from various cultures that was being served. People from all over the world were attending and we soon found out that people had flown in as far as Malaysia just to attend the event. Lucky for us it was just a bus ride away :) 

Quick pit stop for a selfie!

Bit of Photo Booth fun :)

The Music played, people cheered and food was being served. There were also a couple of groups dancing all around but the only thing on our minds was getting that interview with Mr Khan. As we waited around the moment finally came and we knew it as the sound of journalists screaming his name quickly filled the noise around us. We all looked at each other as if we were ready to tackle the mob of journalists ahead of us, we were in our zone - walking towards him, ready to interview him and then.. we get bombarded with a group of tourists running towards him with their Canon cameras ready in their hands. That was the exact moment that we realized that we were doomed,  we all looked at each other in disappointment but then suddenly Amreen whipped out her camera and said 'I am not giving up!'.

It felt like a heroic movie moment as we saw her attempting to squeeze past this group, firstly starting off politely with saying 'excuse me' but as she realised no one was listening she just went in full force by pushing people out the way. Of course, we were right behind her ensuring she could manoeuvre her way around for that perfect selfie and interview slot. We continued on our way, shouting our question in unison to the Mayor. 'What does multiculturalism mean to you?' It went on for a good 2 minutes and then he caught our eyes and just smiled back. We all looked at each other in glee as if we had just accomplished winning the Olympics but the moment was short lived when we realised poor Amreen hadn't come out of the massive crowd but to our joy we see her coming out holding her camera in her hands. I got one she screamed. As she showed us the picture we all looked at each other in shock. 'Amreen you do look a bit squished' and she replied with a simple, 'I would like too see you try and get a photo in that pack of sardines!' 

Amreen and her 'selfie' with the Mayor

The Eid festival represents the ideology multiculturalism well as it illustrates how diversity, tolerance and unity is all achieved through the simple act of an event like this one. It brought many people from all across the UK together to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Visit to China-Town.

Diversity, unity and acceptance. Three of the main aspects of multiculturalism. As you start to ponder over these features, you soon realise that London ticks all these boxes, well.. most of the time. Though the ideology may be less cohesive than others it emphasises the importance of acceptance and what better city than London to do so as it is considered to be one of the most diverse places in the world!

As we started brainstorming ideas of places to go the name China-Town soon became a popular choice from members of our group. 9th July, the date was set and off we set to China-Town. Our arrival on the day was greeted by the smells off cooking noodles and an old Chinese man smiling at us as we entered the market area. Looking around you could see the sense of community not only from those from the Chinese culture but everyone else from different faiths and religions all smiling. 

Always have time for a quick selfie :)

Through the walks across the busy markets we realized just how diverse London is! Strolling through the streets felt as if we actually were in a small market town in China but as soon as we left we were transformed back into the busy street life of London. Its fair to say that London as a city has rightfully earned its title of being multicultural and visiting China Town is living proof of that. The fact that a whole area has been dedicated to celebrating the Chinese culture shows in fact how unity and acceptance is tolerated in our streets.

But just as we were leaving, Amreen spotted a Chinese newspaper. Of course she tried to read it but failed tremendously. Though funnily enough the top news on the paper was similar to what we are seeing on our own TV's. Who would've thought it.

Amreen posing with her newspaper.

What is Multiculturalism?

Multiculturalism looks at how diversity can be achieved throughout society. It emphasises the importance of rights, beliefs and individuals. London in itself is considered to be one of the most diverse cities in the world and UK has rightly come forward and made clear it is a multicultural country. The ideology agrees that the state can control and exploit different forces therefore it aims to achieve diversity within unity. 

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stifled. I want all cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible” Mahatma Gandhi – Civil rights leader