What’s life been like so far living in St Albans for the last 18 months or so? That’s the question I’m often asked by my friends and family back in my previous home town, Luton.

Well so far, it’s been great. Made new friends, joined a local gym, signed up to a new martial art and generally enjoying the many delights that St Albans has to offer,  but and yes there is a big but in all of this.  I am a little bit disappointed in my expectation of a particular community in this town that usually is  welcoming and normally has a strong presence in the place they live, who am I talking about, the St Albans Asian Community and more so the Bangladeshi contingent.

My family and I moved here primarily for the schools. Besides it been known for its Roman history, the great Cathedral, the many array of pubs and surrounded by great Hertfordshire countryside, St Albans is known for some outstanding schools. So, we decided to uproot ourselves and move 10 miles up the road. We made the sacrifice of leaving the comfort of our home town so we can give our children the best education that we can afford.

Sadly, having interacted with the local Bangladeshis, it has left me disappointed and greatly surprised that the young people of this lovely City, have failed to take advantage of the education system with many taking up jobs as taxi drivers and working in restaurants. I mean there’s nothing wrong with these jobs but surely when you’re given such opportunity, one should set their sights and aspirations somewhat higher, in fact why not aim for the sky. Why limit your ambitions?

Having spoken to a number of people in the town, it’s become clear that drug dealing is a big issue, unemployment is high, many live in social housing and the community remains very much segregated from the wider mainstream population. I believe over 98% of the population are from an Anglo Saxon English background with the remainder made up of Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, North Africans and other ethnic minorities.

So what has gone wrong? Well based on my observation so far there is a clear lack of leadership in the community, the “elders” are too occupied in power struggles within the local mosques, there are no institutions or organisations that can be considered as focal points that I think minority communities need to help establish directions and build services.  The youth have no where to turn to for guidance and direction. Where are the youth clubs? Where are the sports, art and music activities for young people? Why hasn’t anyone recognised these issues, gaps and done something to address them?

Why hasn’t the wider community and institutions out there like the local authority reached out to this community and offer support and help? Maybe they have but failed to get any positive response from the recipients. I always believe that before you expect any help from anyone, one has to first help themselves.  The Bangladeshi community in St Albans needs to wake up and realise that it can either remain in a segregated bubble and let the world go by or it can do something to change its current status quo. The opportunities are out there, we need to get ourselves together, unite behind a common set of goals, recognise our strengths and weaknesses and embrace the moment. We can do it!