Celebrating ESEA Heritage Month this September

What is East and South East Asian (ESEA) Heritage Month?

ESEA Heritage Month was created by besea.n (Britain’s East and South East Asian Network), a volunteer-led grassroots community-focused organisation that aims to empower, educate and embrace East and South East Asian (ESEA) communities across the UK.

ESEA Heritage Month was established in the UK to honour and celebrate the culture, diversity, history and contributions of East and South East Asian communities across the UK and raise awareness for those who are not East and/or South East Asian.

When is ESEA Heritage Month?

September every year since 2021!

Much like AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) Heritage Month in the US, a month was established in the UK to celebrate the unique UK-specific communities. ESEA Heritage Month sits sandwiched between South Asian Heritage Month (8^th July – 17^th August) and Black History Month (October) in the UK.

Why do we celebrate ESEA Heritage Month?

ESEA Heritage Month creates space for people of ESEA heritage across the UK to celebrate their identities, cultures, background, as well as reclaim their history by sharing their own stories and experiences. It also provides learning opportunities for others, and opportunities for growth for all allies.

Things to do during ESEA Heritage Month at your workplace

Talk about ESEA Heritage Month

It’s the easiest first step – start talking about ESEA Heritage Month in your organisation! Share information about ESEA Heritage Month, like this blog, our awareness day page, our event webinar, our factsheet, with your colleagues and more widely across your whole organisation.

Allow space for lived experiences

Ask your staff networks or staff of ESEA heritage if they would like to share their stories/experiences if they are comfortable with this. Co-ordinate with your communications teams and staff networks/employee network groups to plan events and activities that your staff would like to see. This allows people to learn more from lived experiences and brings home the importance of ESEA Heritage Month.

Host an event

Ensure if you’re hosting events that these are accessible for all staff and that these are done authentically. Think about how you’re rewarding and recognising your staff for their efforts in this as well. You may want to consult with and engage with your staff networks, or your Inclusive Employers Account Manager. There’s lots you could do from online book clubs, film clubs to marketplace style lunchtime events in your office and invite ESEA-owned small businesses, charities, community organisations etc to come to speak about their work.

Run training

Your organisation could can gain valuable insight into the cultures and communities by committing to learning new things about this month the diversity of ESEA cultures, heritages and histories in the UK this month. Training is an excellent way to broaden everyone’s knowledge while also celebrating the month.

And remember you can do this beyond September as well!

Review your policies/guidance

ESEA Heritage Month could also be a good time to consider your internal policies and guidance. Openly acknowledging that more work needs to be done to support ESEA staff is a great first step in building trust and an inclusive organisational culture.

Take on a review of policies/guidance the organisation might have – is it as inclusive as it can be?