A Better Life...

On the 26 March 1986 the Sheffield and District Afro-Caribbean Community Association (SADACCA) opened its renovated building on the Wicker to the Afro-Caribbean Community.

SADACCA incorporated the West Indian Association which was formed in 1955-56 by a small number of dedicated Caribbean people who had come to this country determined to improve their standard of living and create better opportunities for themselves and their children.

They were not in Sheffield very long before they became disillusioned with their living standards and the hostile environment in which they had to work and socialise. Some can recall with a sense of pride the times when a small number of people began to meet together in each others homes to share experiences and to give support to one another.

They felt that their children deserved more and so approached the City Council for premises for a youth club, and were eventually given a prefabricated hut in Oxford St, which the young people called the bug hut. It was clear that there were no real expectations for these young people other than for them to waste time playing pool and table tennis.

Discussions took place to find a larger building and to organise community meetings and functions to encourage participation in cultural and educational activities. They gradually progressed from the humble premises in Oxford St to Philadelphia Centre where demands for more services resulted in the desire for more space.

The climate was right for them to develop Adult Education Programmes for the Unemployed and other community facilities to combat deficiencies in main stream services. They formulated strategies to implement Childcare facilities, a Luncheon club for the elderly, Black Business Group, a Saturday School and Advisory Service predominantly for the African Caribbean Community.

Read about the birth of SADACCA, A New Beginning.

History | Aims