Founded in 2011 by Fatima Patel, Asian Sunday newspaper has established itself as a benchmark publication – the UK’s first free Sunday paper; the first Sunday title across the UK Asian media sector; highlighting news that focuses on South Asians living and working and their lifestyle in the UK and sharing this insight with the wider community by distributing the newspaper free; and the first newspaper to be solo-owned by a woman.
The concept and strategy of Asian Sunday was initiated across Fatima’s parents’ portfolio of Yorkshire-based newsagents, where she helped with sorting and delivering door-to-door the papers, when a young girl. The idea was born to deliver a free, Sunday paper directly to homes, allowing households to enjoy their lazy Sundays and guaranteeing readership through door-to-door delivery. Cross-community awareness and bridging the gap between local, diverse communities lie at the heart of the newspaper.
Asian Sunday focuses on community cohesion, sharing news on the South Asian community living, working and their lifestyle in the UK with the wider community, with a specific focus on the third and fourth generation experience, in turn engaging a better understanding of the UK South Asian community.
Editorial content spans politics, news, lifestyle, arts, culture and entertainment, beyond the stereotypical and encouraging interaction and dialogue with youth audiences also.
Fuelled by the success of the Bradford edition in achieving recognition and fostering cross-community relations between the South Asian and wider, local communities, Fatima decided to introduce the newspaper to the Capital, launching in East London as a starting point, reaching its abundance of diverse communities alongside the local, South Asian community.
This was hugely supported by British Airways whose ethos matches that of Asian Sunday of building bridges and connecting communities and enterprise. Other supporters included members of Bradford Council, Mp’s Keith Vaz, Anas Sarwar, Yasmin Qureshi, David Ward with a tribute and honour to fellow Bradfordians Kimberley Walsh, Steven Frayne (aka Dynamo) and Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan.
You can view the London launch of the newspaper here.
Today Asian Sunday is a national brand coupled with it’s other title Asian Style Magazine (the free magazine that comes with the newspaper) and is distributed to over 200 businesses nationally, with a readership of over a million.
Asian Sunday has also become the lead when it comes to being a voice for the Asian community, with regular reference to Asian Sunday as well as appearances from our team in media outlets such as BBC Sunday politics, The Economist, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Independence and BBC Look North.