Gurdwara Baba Sang Ji

This building was originally the Empire Theatre which opened in 1910 and was turned into a cinema in 1924. Former Prime Minister, John Major’s parents met at the cinema when they were both working there. The cinema closed in 1957 and it became a DIY store. The Sikh community bought it in 1994 with donations and loans from the local Sikh community. The old building wasn’t fit for purpose so re-building work commenced in 2019. On the ground floor there is a Langar hall that is open to serve free food from 6am-8pm 365 days a year. The first floor has the main prayer hall and there is a smaller prayer hall and meeting rooms on the second floor. At the top of the building is the Sach Kand which is the room where the Guru Granth Sahib Saroop are kept (the Sikh scripture). This Gurdwara has 300 Guru Granth Sahib saroop, more than any other Gurdwara in the country and they are the leading place for preserving and restoring them, serving the Panth (Sikh community).

The Gurdwara has activities throughout the week:
There are prayers every morning from 4am, plus hymn signing preaching and prayers through the day until 9pm. Thursdays a women’s group meets for prayers and hymns singing and there are always two Granthi Singhs (priests) available to pray with people in need.

Harvey grew up in Smethwick and used to go to all the Gurdwaras always feeling at home. He wanted to get take Amrit (get baptised) at 11, his family and advised him to wait until he was older. At the time he didn’t understand and felt a bit annoyed as he wanted to take a step of faith. He eventually took Amrit on 5th August 1995 aged 15 and never looked back from stepping into the fold of Sikhi. Everything in his life revolves around the principles of Sikhi, meditating, giving away some of your earnings and time to the community. He has been on committee for 10 years finds his community and extended family at the gurdwara.

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