Friendliness of city’s Nepali community helping it thrive

According to the Peterborough Nepalese Society, a lady by the name of Yamuna Waldron was the first Nepali immigrant to arrive in Peterborough in 1984.

Today, there are estimated to be around 500 Nepalis living within the city.

As is often the case, many of these first and second generation arrivals moved to the UK in search of a better life and greater opportunities for their children.

The Peterborough Nepalese Society (PNS) has been – and indeed continues to be – the first port of call for many new arrivals. Founded in 2007 by a small group of Nepali immigrants, the PNS is effectively a community hub and outreach centre rolled into one. The society’s chairman, Keshab Khatiwada, said even though the PNS puts on a wide range of community activities and events for the established Nepali community, its focus still remains on helping and supporting new arrivals.

“The people coming from Nepal, they badly miss their families,” he explained. “The cultural activities [put on by the PNS] ‘fill a gap’ so that they don’t feel lonely.”

Keshab knows how it feels to miss loved ones.

When he first arrived in the UK in 2007, he had to leave his young children at home in Nepal for a year, as he wanted to be sure the prospects of moving to Britain

were as promising as he had dreamed they would be. Happily, Keshab was immediately

impressed with his newly adopted home. The 51-year-old remembers arriving

at his cousin’s house near Spalding warmly. “It was a very good feeling,” he recalled. “I liked pretty much everything: the cleanliness, the people, the cultures - everything.”

While Keshab had the ‘luxury’ of having a well-informed contact to greet him upon arrival, this is, sadly, not the case for some Nepali arrivals these days

“They are coming and they are not getting any knowledge or help about what to do or what not to do,” he explained. “We help them find a job if possible,” he said, “and guide them through legal things, too.”

Keshab believes that the famed friendliness and openness of Nepali people has been instrumental in helping to establish a thriving community within Peterborough. For the full story visit

The Peterborough Nepalese Society has been helping the growing Nepali community to thrive