Vision

Welcome to PASCO, a South Asian organisation based here in Portsmouth.  We are thrilled to have you visit our site and are honoured to represent the Indian community in this diverse city and surrounding areas.

Our mission is to promote Indian culture, inclusivity and awareness in the local community.  Whether you are a member or a supporter of our organisation, we value your interest and participation.

History

In May 1979, Mr Gurnam Singh Dhillon and his wife bought a Post Office business in Stamshaw, Portsmouth and moved with their children down from London. Life in Portsmouth in the 80s was very different from cosmopolitan London as there were hardly any ethnic minorities, especially from the Sikh community, and consequently, they faced a lot of racism in the early years of running their business.

In London, Mr Dhillon had been very active in organisations such as The Indian Workers Association, and the Indian Progressive Writers Association for the British branch, and this experience made him realise that there was a need in Portsmouth for an organisation that would represent the interests of the South Asian community, especially when dealing with the Police or the Council.

A few months later, a chance meeting at Cash & Carry with Mr Kapil Goyal, led to the two of them discussing the need for such an organisation to represent community interests and provide a platform for socialising and keeping the culture alive.

In March 1980, the first meeting was held above Mr Dhillon’s post office. Present at that meeting were Mr Dhillon, Kapil Goyal, Surendra Zaveri, Praful Thakar, Dr Ramesh Patel, Rahi Bains, Baldev Laly, Robert Fazal, Mr Nadeem, Laxmi Das and Malkit Babra. There may have been others too, but recollections are a little hazy. Thus, the Portsmouth Asian, Social & Cultural Organisation (PASCO) was born.

A testament to the enthusiasm and hard work of this founding committee, was the speed with which they organised their first cultural event in June 1980. This was a concert at the Mountbatten Centre, performed by, Aalaap, a well-known band at the time. PASCO received a grant from the council of £850 for the event, however, Aalaap at that time charged £2000. Mr Dhillon knew the lead singer Channi Singh and told him PASCO would only pay £800 (in the end Channi Singh only took £750)! Tickets were £5 and 400 people turned up, not just from Portsmouth but Southampton and other parts of Hampshire too. This event consolidated PASCO, and from then on it rapidly grew.

Further events and activities followed, such as a Ghazal evening, Poetry Symposium, Coach Trips, Fitness and Yoga classes, Diwali, Holi and Vaisakhi celebrations, and charity events to raise funds for various causes and talent shows, all helped by a grant of £13,000 from the Council that Mr Dhillon and Dr Patel petitioned hard to get. PASCO also managed to get funding for language classes and for many years there were Saturday classes for Hindi (Mr Goyal), Gujarati (Mrs Indu Patel) and Punjabi (Mr Dhillon).  PASCO has and continues to support garbas at Navratri too.

As the years have passed, PASCO has faced many challenges – funding has disappeared, the community's needs have changed as children have grown up and moved away, and people have assimilated into the local environment. However, one thread has remained throughout, and kept PASCO alive - in the words of Mr Gurnam Singh Dhillon – “PASCO IS A FAMILY”.