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The Blossom Group: Why Colonial History Must Be Part of the National Curriculum

At The Blossom Group, we work with communities from every part of the world. Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Somalis, Eritreans, Syrians, Afghans, Moroccans, Algerians, Jamaicans, Barbadians, Brazilians, Colombians, Turkish families, Chinese elders, Filipinos, Eastern Europeans, Latin Americans, and long-established East Londoners all share our spaces. Our mission is simple: help people connect across cultures in a way that feels natural, warm, and human.

One of the strongest examples of our work is the Togetherness Café. It is not just a café. It is one of the most innovative integration projects anywhere in the UK. The moment you step inside, you hear stories mixing with spices, accents flowing into each other, and people who once felt invisible suddenly feeling recognised. Somali coffee brews next to Pakistani chai. A Jamaican grandmother swaps recipes with a Bangladeshi mum. A Polish neighbour learns how to wrap Moroccan msemen. Brazilian and Indian teens laugh over street food flavours that somehow make sense together.

Food breaks down fear. Stories build trust. And shared space creates belonging.

But for true understanding, something deeper is needed. Something our current education system often avoids.

This is why we believe colonial history must be part of the national curriculum, not as an optional module, not as a footnote, but as a core subject.

Because every community in our café carries history long before they walk through the door.

Colonialism shaped the movement of Indian and Pakistani families.
It shaped the journeys of Caribbean elders who arrived on the Windrush.
It shaped the borders and conflicts that pushed Syrians, Afghans, and Palestinians into new homes.
It shaped language, identity, and opportunity for Nigerians, Ghanaians, Somalis, and Kenyans.
It shaped the cultural blending and resistance of Latin America.
It shaped trade routes, labour patterns, and global inequalities that still echo today.

When schools teach history without its colonial chapters, students grow up with half the truth. They learn about kings, queens, inventions, and wars, but not about the power systems that built the modern world. They meet classmates from every continent but lack the context to understand why so many cultures intersect here in Britain.

This missing knowledge shows up in our work. Adults often tell us they reached their twenties or thirties before discovering how colonisation shaped their own family stories. That gap limits empathy, confidence, and identity.

Teaching colonial history is not about blame. It is about clarity.
It is about giving young people a full picture of the past so they can navigate the present with understanding instead of confusion.
It prepares them to engage with a diverse society respectfully and intelligently.
It builds the foundation for real integration and prevents stereotypes from taking the place of knowledge.

At the Togetherness Café, we weave these lessons into conversations every day. When a Somali elder shares what her village looked like before displacement, when a Caribbean elder explains why her parents came to Britain, when a Pakistani grandfather speaks about Partition, or when a Moroccan youth tells his story of language and identity, people begin to see each other not as strangers but as connected chapters in a larger story.

This is the kind of learning the national curriculum should support.
This is how a country becomes more understanding and more united.
This is how we build communities that thrive.

The Blossom Group will continue doing this work through food, storytelling, and shared spaces. But schools must meet us halfway.
A nation cannot understand its present until it teaches its past honestly.
Colonial history belongs in every classroom, because it lives in every community.

We are not just creating a café.
We are creating a blueprint for connection.
And honest history is the foundation that holds it all together.