Serbs in the United Kingdom


British Serbs or Serbs in the United Kingdom are Serbs and people of Serbian ancestry in the United Kingdom.

Overview

There has been a Serb community in Halifax since Yugoslavia's liberation in the World War II. Monarchist refugees left Yugoslavia as a result of Josip Broz Tito's revolution. There is a Serbian Orthodox church there.
There is a sizeable Serb community in Shepherd's Bush and Notting Hill in West London, where Serbian grocery stores, cafes, and a Serbian church is present.

Organisations

There are a number of Serbian Orthodox churches in the UK, including London, Birmingham, Bradford, Halifax, Corby, Derby, Bedford, Leicester and Oxford.
In 1953, an organisation which was to become the Movement of Serbian Chetniks of Ravna Gora in Great Britain was established by fifty prominent Dinara Division veterans from all over England and Wales and is still active.
The Serbian Society in the UK was formed in 1995 as a new influx of Serbian refugees and émigrés arrived amid the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. The society has a cultural focus in London. It is a registered charity.
The Serbian Council of Great Britain was established in 2004 to promote the development of the community, particularly through cooperation with exiting community organisations. Since 2008, the organisation has organised Serbian Week which would broaden to become Serbian Month. Typically a series of events held from late January through to the end of February, it has become the most successful exposition of culture of its kind within the Serbian Diaspora.
In 2008, a magazine was launched for Serbs in Britain called Britic, which is now online.

Demographics

The Serbian Council of Britain notes the presence of second- and third-generation British Serbs. In 2001, the Serbian Embassy estimated that there were 70,000 Serbs in the United Kingdom. A January 2012 estimation claims 80,000.
The 2011 UK Census, recorded 8,049 Serbian-born residents in England, 122 in Wales, 188 in Scotland, and 32 in Northern Ireland. In response to the ethnicity question, 7,312 people in England, 106 in Wales, and 185 in Scotland wrote in "Serbian" under the "White" heading, as an alternative to ticking one of the pre-defined categories.

Notable people

Arts and entertainment