African-Caribbean Organisations

The breath of activity of African, Black British and Caribbean diaspora community and cultural organisations have a long-standing history and breadth of activity in the North East. Some are current and others have been dissolved their resilience and passion to implement their different community and cultural visions is interwoven in the social history of the North East.

Some organisations such as North of England African Community Organisation (NEEACA), emerged from earlier 'in house' gatherings and parent organisation The Ghana Union and SCAFRO (Standing Conference of African Union). Many of the Elder vanguards, some of whom are no longer with us today, have paved the way for the range and plethora of organisations, groups and projects which followed, from voluntary-led charities to the large-scale regional infrastructure-capacity building and change BECON to smaller, ‘every project has a different life span’ projects such as Freedom Think Tank, developed in 2007 for a specific purpose to engage in an alternative narrative on enslavement in 2007 for the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade 2007. For these organisations, culture and heritage are interwoven with community -everyday experiences and survival mechanisms from struggle to celebrations.