As part of our regular Forest Review series looking at the wide range of supporters' groups who follow the club, we are pleased to introduce Punjabi Forest. Bill Johal explains...
Punjabi Forest was formed in December 2021 by a group of lifelong Forest supporters who all share a common Punjabi heritage and die-hard love for The Reds.
Punjab is a state within the north of India and means the land of the five rivers. It is renowned for its’ agriculture as well as boasting a rich culture of mouth-watering cuisine, upbeat music, and bhangra dancing.
Hundreds of thousands of Punjabis fought for Britain in both world wars, with over a hundred thousand paying the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. There are now over 700,000 British Punjabi’s living in the UK.
Punjabi Forest are a diverse, all-inclusive group welcoming every community irrespective of race, religion, colour and gender. Everyone is welcome young and old, in line with the all-embracing policy of every Gurdwara.
Currently, our eldest member is Mr Bagha Singh Dosanjh aged 82, who attended his first game in 1969 against Everton. Our youngest member is Nirvaan Purewal who watched his first game in 2019 aged nine.
The only condition on joining is that you support Forest! In the very short time since formation, we have gained approximately 200 members and this is rapidly increasing.
Supporting Nottingham Forest is a privilege and honour. The Punjabi community has been embedded in the fabric of Nottingham since the 1930’s. The founder members of Punjabi Forest were born and bred in our fine city and feel blessed to have such a great club with prestigious history on our doorstep. My mother would fondly reminisce about taking my elder brothers to the market square parade in 1959 when we were FA Cup winners, and Forest have been a part of our family ever since.
Our aim is to get the community involved and enthused in Forest. We are especially keen on encouraging younger supporters to engage in the social and cultural integration of our membership.
Inclusion to a group gives a sense of belonging and helps promote mental, emotional and general wellbeing - every mind matters.
Many ethnic minorities have historically been wary to attend football matches at certain stadiums over the years but are now becoming encouraged by the collective feel of the many diverse supporter groups now emerging and the welcome received at The City Ground. After all, there is no better experience than the atmosphere on match day and we follow our team whatever the result.
We aim to support local charities with funds raised from within Punjabi Forest, generated by organising social functions, fun days out, auctioning of Forest memorabilia, and voluntary charitable donations. The fun and social side of any supporters group is essential to foster inclusivity and a cohesive team spirit.
Punjabi Forest, being an official associate of the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), very much align with their ideology on diversity and integration and we fully embrace equalities legislation.
We have been pleased with the encouragement received from Forest, both directly from the Chairman, Nicholas Randall QC, and from many of the staff behind the scenes who have been very supportive of our plans and goals, for which we thank them.
Several of our members participated in the ‘My City My Shirt’ campaign, as well as two others who participated in the promotional videos for season cards.
We are excited by the growing sense of unity amongst fans, management, backroom staff, players and the Board given our stability and progression, an example of which is the development of our Academy in achieving Category One status this season.
All the pieces are now in place, and we can all sense exciting times just around the corner. We would invite you to join us in our quest to promote the integration of our local communities and our great club through friendly, inclusive, likeminded ambitions.
To find Punjabi Forest, follow the link for the Facebook page, Punjabi Forest, or e-mail admin@punjabiforest.com.
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