UK: Census data reveals the changing face of Crawley in last decade

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"We understand each other much better because of it. Every new cultural group which has come to the town has brought something different.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: This is Sussex | Crawley News
By Dave Comeau | December 28, 2012

SOME ethnic minority groups in the town have increased dramatically over the past ten years, according to census data published earlier this month.

The 2011 data, released by the Office of National Statistics, shows Crawley's changing cultural landscape and increasing diversity.

The vast majority of people in the town still describe themselves as white British - 78.92 per cent compared with 84.5 per cent in 2001.

Black or black British (other) was the ethnic group that increased the most over the past decade – 77 to 840 – an increase of nearly 1,000 per cent.

Residents who described themselves as black or black British (Caribbean) increased from 300 to 2,164, an increase of 621 per cent.

The population of Asians or British Asians of Bangladeshi descent rose from 147 to 427.

Some groups declined, however, with white Irish falling from 1,308 to 967. The black African demographic fell from 724 to 465 and Asian British (other) fell from 769 to 496.

Ahsan Ahmedi, regional president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said it is important for different cultural groups to integrate. He added: "You should be a part of the country you are living in and that is something the Ahmadiyya community works hard to promote.

"Of course, when people first come to a country and they don't speak the language they are naturally going to be more insular.

"But when you get the second generation who have grown up in that country, that is when they start to integrate and that is evident in Crawley."

Mr Ahmedi added that Crawley's multiculturalism has bred tolerance and made the town a better place.

"In Crawley we have a lot of interworking between faiths and ethnic groups and we have a lot of cultural events," he said.

"We understand each other much better because of it. Every new cultural group which has come to the town has brought something different.

"The Polish community have brought with them skilled or semi-skilled builders and tradespeople. That is something I think we were missing in some places."

Overall Crawley's population increased from 100,400 to 106,600 over the ten years.



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