History

Together As One was previously known as “Aik Saath.” The project was established in response to gang violence between young people from Asian backgrounds in Slough.

During the mid-1990s gang-violence took place between young people from the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities of Slough and Southall. At the height of the tensions there was rioting – shops were burned, vehicles were damaged and young people were seriously hurt. The conflict received national media attention and on 30th March 1998, Channel 4 screened a documentary about the tensions entitled “The Peacemaker.” The producers of the programme asked an experienced conflict resolution expert, Dr Dudley Weeks, to mediate between the gangs. His efforts formed the focus of the documentary.

The mediation process successfully prevented the conflict from escalating. However, to build a lasting peace, Dr Weeks advocated the creation of a conflict resolution group that would be led by young people for young people. This resulted in the formation of Aik Saath (meaning ‘Together As One’ in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu).

Initially, our team of young volunteers was established to challenge the prejudices that resulted in so much violence between Asian young people in Slough during the 1990s. However, the project quickly evolved to work with all young people, regardless of their faith or background.