In 1985 the London Borough of Hackney had a large Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) population with 33% being Afro Caribbean and 15% born in the United Kingdom. In September 1984 CDF organized a group of 11 people from Hackney to visit Holland in an effort to promote cultural awareness and understanding among African and Caribbean youth in the UK and in Holland. This proved to be a tremendous success with invaluable benefits to participants. As a result, it was decided that similar exchanges should be encouraged among youths in the UK and the Caribbean. CDF then approached the Youth Services to organize jointly a visit to St Vincent, an Island in the Eastern Caribbean which forms part of a chain of Islands known as the Windward Islands.
In April 1985, Bilal Ameen Chair of CDF with the assistance of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council visited St Vincent for six weeks. He investigated the possibility of taking a group of 18 young people to the Island, to undertake a programme of study designed to help them to learn something about the background of many of their neighbours, and in some cases, of their own families. CDF had for some time been concerned about the separatism between the White British population and Black and Minority Ethnic communities in Hackney, and the little understanding of the difficulties experienced and the issues belonging and identity. The project was formulated to give young people born in the UK an opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of life in the Caribbean, its culture, education etc.
Promoting and providing charitable activities for the benefit of the community