OUTLINE

The Kaleburnu Group is a not-for-profit association established in 2007. With 2,877 members as of June 2022, it comprises predominately first-generation migrants who moved to the UK from the Kaleburnu region of Cyprus between 1948 and 1961. The group has a strong internet presence, providing an interface for people from the Kaleburnu area who live all around the world.

The group recently became a constituted association and is now delivering our first project. We are keen to support any new projects which engage with and connect communities, bring people together, build strong relationships in and across communities, and preserve our heritage for future generations.

Over the past few years, we have noticed that there has been a rise in social divisions between young and old within our community. This division continues to grow, and our community is experiencing age segregation due to disparities in language, religion, culture, and heritage. For example, while most first-generation individuals are more reliant on Turkish as main language of communication, those born in the UK, being assimilated within the mainstream community, use English. The divide between generations in cultural terms more broadly is also increasing, with 82% of young people expressing that they felt that older people live in the past. This is a particular issue for migrant communities, however, with the Intergenerational Foundation finding that most elderly immigrants felt isolated from the younger generation, especially in comparison to those living in their hometowns with extended family networks.

With the input of our members, the Kaleburnu Group has developed a project to bridge this gap, and to ensure that there is a collective understanding of the intergenerational issues that can bring people from the community together. Our goal is to create a platform for the elders within the Kaleburnu community, to preserve their stories and to protect the village’s culture for future generations.

We are laying the groundwork, but it is up to the community to build upon this foundation and decide the direction in which the project is taken.

The foundation includes:

• this book
• a website: http://www.Kaleburnu.org
• a travelling exhibition
• a documentary, linked to a series, and
• a Kale-pedia site, to host all material related to Kaleburnu.