Ipswich community champion Boshor Ali, founder of BSC Multicultural Services, awarded honorary doctorate from University of Suffolk
An Ipswich community champion who has helped tens of thousands of people has been honoured for more than 25 years of service to Suffolk.
Boshor Ali, who founded BSC Multicultural Services (BSCMS), which works to ensure Ipswich’s Bangladeshi community have a role in Suffolk life, was handed an honorary doctorate on Saturday.
The organisation has supported more than 30,000 people from more than 50 nationalities.
He was joined by his family at the graduation ceremony on Ipswich waterfront, celebrating alongside thousands of students who collected their awards this week.
Accepting his degree, he expressed his gratitude to the university, describing himself as ‘moved and honoured’.
He said: “I came to the UK with my family when I was 16 as a teenager, and I didn’t have any formal qualification apart from gaining an A-level in Bengali.
“Receiving this honorary doctorate degree, adding to my single qualification, is very much surprising.”
Mr Ali founded BCSMS – then known as Bangladeshi Support Centre – in 1998 with just £250.
It helps support those facing inequality, particularly regarding health and education.
Under his stewardship, some of the projects BCSMS is associated with include a homework club at Northgate High School; English lessons for children and families; multi-lingual support for those needing help with key public services such as tax or housing needs; and connecting people with NHS trusts.
It also hosts the One Big Multicultural Festival at Alexandra Park, which has run for 13 years.
Mr Ali described another of his projects, the BME Business Awards, which celebrates black or minority ethnic firms, as ‘one of the most important things we started’.
During his speech, he said: “Back 27 years ago, when we started this as Bangladeshi Support Centre, we never thought that we would come that far.
“You can’t even imagine it because we don’t really know what is going to happen tomorrow, but your aims and your vision needs to be in place.”
In addition to BSCMS, Mr Ali has been secretary of Shahjalal Mosque and Islamic Centre for a number of years. He also served as treasurer of Ipswich and Suffolk Muslim Council, founded Muslim Youth Forum and sits as chairman of the Bangladeshi Cultural Group.
However, he said one of his proudest moments was forming the Al-Tazid Foundation in 2005, in memory of his late father, Tazid Ali.
It helps provide clean water, improve housing and deliver eye health clinics in the Sylhet area of Bangladesh.
Closing his speech, Mr Ali said: “When you do community and charitable work, you don’t actually do it with the intention of getting something back.
“We do it because we have the passion, the commitment and dedication, and we want to make a difference to our community for everybody.
“If someone like me, whose highest qualification is only an A-level in Bengali – if I can come here and pick up an honorary degree, for you the sky is the limit.”
