Club celebrates Diwali

The Club has taken part in a range of activities celebrating the annual cultural festival of Diwali, engaging with the South Asian community around Wembley and promoting inclusion for fans of all backgrounds.

This season has seen the birth of Punjabi Spurs, our first British-Asian Official Supporters’ Club based that aims to celebrate diversity within our global fan base and welcome fans from all backgrounds.

Punjabi Spurs is being backed by Kick It Out and the Football Supporters’ Federation’s ‘Fans for Diversity’ fund and will be delivering a coaching clinic for young people in the Punjab region of India next year with the help of Spurs legends Clive Allen and Micky Hazard.

Its chairman, Josh Sandhu, introduced a Spurs-themed Diwali performance from VP Bhangra - a renowned Punjabi dance troupe that has performed at events including the London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony - during the half-time interval at our match with Bournemouth on October 14.

The Diwali celebrations continued into last week with Ledley King a special guest at the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha temple’s Diwali event in Southall.

Our legendary Club Ambassador took a tour of the iconic temple, meeting many Spurs fans in attendance and serving food in the kitchen.

The Club has also sponsored Wembley’s festive lights this year that were switched on by Ledley, alongside representatives from Brent Council, last Friday to mark Diwali and remain throughout the Christmas period until the New Year.

Meanwhile, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation will next month launch a groundbreaking health and inclusion programme in partnership with BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, commonly known as Neasden Temple, and its community groups.

The programme will provide activities and awareness, including health checks and a 10-week weight management course, to inspire young people and adults that visit the Temple to lead healthier lifestyles.

It is in response to research showing that people from south Asian communities living in the UK are nearly twice as likely to develop diabetes compared with people from white European backgrounds, with conditions such as Coronary Heart Disease also more prevalent.