About Us

The London Tamil Centre (LTC) is one of the leading voluntary organisations in the entire UK Tamil Community. It is renowned for its management and outstanding contribution to the local community in general and to the Tamils in particular.

LTC incorporates three distinct services: mother tongue classes, youth development programmes and care for the elderly. For the sake of efficiency and administrative convenience, these activities are under the direct supervision of two sub committees, managed under the umbrella of Tamil School and Tamil Elders Drop-in Centre.

The Tamil school conducts Tamil Language and Fine Arts classes at Wembley High Technology College on Sundays. It also offers youth development and mentoring programmes on Sundays and in the evenings on weekdays at the LTC premises.

Objectives

(a) To advance the education of Tamil-speaking people for the benefit of the public in Tamil language, music, dance, drama, speech and general and religious education in the United Kingdom.

(b) To provide, in the interest of social welfare, facilities for recreation or other leisure-time occupation for those who need them by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, poverty or social and economic circumstances with the object of improving the conditions of life of those for whom they are primarily intended.

(c) To relieve the elderly, sick or disabled in such ways as the Charity Trustees think fit.

Cultural Activities

We run cultural activities and events throughout the year. For details see Events and News.

Tamil New Year Celebration (April) We celebrate the Tamil New Year with our main cultural show every year. We started the first event in 1993 at Brent Town Hall where more than 1000 people attended. Since then this programme is held at London Logan Hall and more recently at Watersmeet Theatre, Rickmansworth. The performances are given by our Tamil School students, teachers and parents. Famous artists and musicians are also invited.

Navaratri Festival (October) In tradition with other Hindu organisations we celebrate this festival of nine nights. We celebrate the Navaratri festival at our Tamil School on a Sunday when one of the Navaratri days falls. All performances are given by our Tamil School students, youths and our parents. This event is held free of charge to our school children and parents, and traditional Navaratri food is also served as part of the celebrations.

Deepavali Celebration (November) Dinner and dance mainly organised by the youths. We encourage the talents of youths to participate in organising this event.

Christmas Party (December) Organised mainly for the children and parents and held at our school premises. There are programmes during the evening to reflect the spirit of Christmas and also give opportunity for our parents to stage their talents who are taking adult classes. The evening ends with dinner and dance.

Thai Pongal Festival (Harvest Festival) (January) Organised during the day at our school – nearest Sunday to the Thai Pongal day (14th Jan). We hold a drawing competition for our school children to participate, to bring out their imagination about the purpose and how the Pongal celebration is done. We also exhibit how a typical Pongal would be done – a display with Kolam, Pot, etc. We end the day with serving the traditional Thai Pongal Pukkai and other short-eats (Vadai, Kadali, etc). This is provided free of charge for our school children and parents.

Religion

London Tamil Centre is a multi-faith centre. Here people from all religious faiths participate to gain knowledge from our professional teachers. The major portion of the people is Hindus, Christians and Muslims.

Library

The London Tamil Centre maintains a library of Tamil and community resources at our premises. For opening hours and access, please contact us.

The Management

Our Trustees and Management Committees are divided as follows: