Far from home, a language and a culture can slip away quietly, one generation at a time. In 2010 a group of Tamil families in Southend saw this beginning to happen to their own children and decided to act. If nothing was done, the next generation would grow up unable to speak, read or write Tamil, cut off from the heritage that shaped their parents and grandparents. With this in mind, the Southend Tamil Association was formed in June 2010.

On Thursday 2 June 2010, at 4 pm, a meeting was held at 749–751 Southchurch Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 2PP, by the five founder members: Mr Logendran Thayabaran, Mr Kumarasamy Sivabalan, Mr Balasingam Kuganeswaran, Mr Kanthavel Thedchanamoorthy and Mr Benedict Anton. It was agreed to start a Tamil Association in Southend, and the meeting elected the first office bearers of the Association:

Mr Logendran Thayabaran, President
Mr Balasingam Kuganeswaran, Vice President
Mr Kumarasamy Sivabalan, Treasurer

The committee appointed Mr Paul E. West as Secretary to the Committee and Consultant to the Association, and resolved to open a Saturday Tamil school for the community’s children – Southend Tamil School opened at Hamstel Infant School on 25 September 2010. On 21 April 2020 the Association became a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO 1189156). The trustees nominated by the members to register the charity, at the Special General Meeting of 22 September 2019, were Mr Kumarasamy Sivabalan, Mr Nagarajah Kirubaharan, Mr Balasubramaniya Sivasaravanan, Mr Sivakulasingam Chandrakanthan and Mr Kanthavel Thedchanamoorthy, with Mr Nagarajah Kirubaharan as the first Chair of Trustees.

Today STA is led by a President, Secretary and Treasurer elected by the members at each Annual General Meeting, supported by an elected working committee and the board of trustees. The office bearers who have served the Association since 2010 are listed below.