TWO organisations set up to increase the number of people from Bradford's south Asian community taking part in football are celebrating their first anniversaries.

Shapla Football Club and the Bangla Bantams – which is a Bradford City supporters' group – are set to mark the milestone with a ceremony tomorrow.

The two projects were founded in February last year to promote and encourage participation by the south Asian community in grassroots football in the district. Both Shapla and the Bangla Bantams were set up with help from the Fans For Diversity campaign fund, which is jointly run by Kick It Out and the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF).

Humayun Islam, one of the co-founders of the two projects, explained the motivations behind the celebration.

"The awards event aims to bring together the partners and supporters of the two groups to showcase their achievements from the past year," he said. "We also want to demonstrate that we could not have achieved all this without the support of organisations like Kick It Out and the FSF.

"It's crucial that other organisations learn from our success so that we can help each other."

Among the two groups' supporters are Bradford City FC, the West Riding County FA, the FA, Sporting Equals, and other local organisations, many of which will have representatives at the ceremony.

Since their formation, Shapla and the Bangla Bantams have run several initiatives with the local south Asian community, such as arranging opportunities for fans to attend matches at Valley Parade and a fasting event during Ramadan.

The two groups have also organised a variety of grassroots playing initiatives for local boys and girls, including Shapla Sports, which has introduced numerous young people to tennis and cricket, as well as the establishment of a football academy that runs every Saturday, with a regular attendance of more than 70 people.

Anwar Uddin, the FSF's diversity and campaigns manager, who has been heavily involved in both projects, praised what has been achieved so far. He said: "It's great to see the Bangla Bantams and Shapla progress and develop into something that the local community has completely embraced.

"We've now got people that regularly attend the games and are in tune with Bradford City Football Club. It's also empowered the community to go out and feel comfortable playing or watching football, and that's only been able to happen because of the successful partnerships that we were able to create."

The ceremony will take place tomorrow at the Royal Taj Restaurant and Banqueting Hall in Manningham Lane, Bradford, from 6pm to 9pm.

The two groups got together for a launch event at the BEAP Community Centre in Bradford in February last year.

At the time, Bradford City's facilities manager David Dowse said: "It's great for Bradford City to tie in with the local community and I'm sure the children have enjoyed getting involved with the club."