Hello! We’re besea.n - Britain’s East and South East Asian Network.
We are a community focused, volunteer-led group with a mission to empower, educate and embrace East and South East Asian people in the UK.
Our advocacy spotlights ESEA experiences through our online platforms, research and community events - providing a safe space for sharing knowledge, taking action and fostering connections.
Our vision is one where our communities are seen and supported in all spaces, working actively to make connections across demographics and borders. That’s why we’ve launched ESEA Heritage Month, celebrated every year in the month of September. It’s a month-long, collaborative programme of events, dedicated to East and South East Asian heritage, culture, history and solidarity. It’s a chance to celebrate, acknowledge and learn about the incredible ways in which our communities have helped shape the UK and respond to its changing tides, as well as reaffirm or create community bonds and movements.
We are a small but perfectly formed team of volunteers and we rely on your support. If you appreciate our work, you can donate to our cause and follow us on Instagram.
Filmed and edited by Ray Roberts
Update on activities in 2026:
We are currently operating at very limited capacity, adjusting the ways in which we work in order to care for our mental and physical health, in order to sustain action for the long term. Our current focus is on grant-making for ESEA Heritage Month, and on maintaining and promoting the ESEA Heritage Month programme. As such, we are unable to take on any new projects or engagements.
Highlights from the website
ESEA Heritage Month 2026: “Evolving Threads”
Every September, besea.n invites you to enjoy a month-long, collaborative programme of events, dedicated to East and Southeast Asian heritage, culture, history and solidarity. It’s a chance to celebrate, acknowledge and learn about the incredible ways in which our communities have helped shape the UK and respond to its changing tides, as well as reaffirm or create new community bonds and movements.
This year, ESEA Heritage Month invites us to reflect on the theme “Evolving Threads”, honouring the ways in which our stories, actions and solidarities are continuously woven together across time, place, and community.
Communities move, adapt, and grow, shaped by migration, geopolitics, and creativity. Our theme this year recognises that the experiences of East and Southeast Asian communities are deeply interconnected across generations, borders and movements.
From community kitchens to mutual aid networks, from migrant journeys to climate justice campaigns, our threads intersect with those of other communities facing displacement, inequality, and systemic oppression. Our evolving threads help us to build coalitions across communities, groups and movements, drawing on the lessons of the past and the realities of the present to imagine new futures.
Free Lunar New Year Resource Packs!
Happy Lunar New Year!
Celebrate this Lunar New Year with our FREE to download 202 resource packs, available now!
This resource pack has been created with education experts with a combined 43 years of experience in the education sector. It was designed for ease of use for all practitioners irrespective of their level of confidence and knowledge of East and South East Asian (ESEA) cultures. Through the use of this pack, we hope that educators will feel empowered to teach young people in the UK the topic of Lunar New Year.
Download the resource pack below!