Category Archives: News
Unity in Diversity Vs Swansea University staff – Our first match!!!
BREAKING NEWS!!! UiD FC has been kindly invited to play a Swansea University staff team at warm-ups for the University Varsity event. The match will be at 5pm on Monday 30th March at the football grounds next to the Wales national pool Swansea. Postcode – SA2 8EE (see map below). This is very exciting for us as it presents an opportunity to get the team properly started, to give the players the experience of playing as part of a team and to understand how we function effectively together. An excellent chance to be seen and to share the fun, healthy and inclusive nature of our team. We remind you that everyone is welcome to join us at training sessions held at Hafod park on Sundays 2pm to 4pm. If you have an interest in friendships across diverse cultures and developing your game please join us. Full info on UiD training sessions here: Unity in Diversity Football Training – Flyer-Map-Info Monday’s match to be played here:
7 – 6 to the Blues!!!!
Note: All photos are shared with express permission of ALL those pictured.
A very encouraging start to our recently revived football activities with 19 people playing. With our kind volunteers Martin (the coach) and Christelle, plus Lazlo and myself we were 25 happy souls enjoying a healthy afternoon’s activities.
UiD FC used to meet at the Recreation ground on Mumbles road but due to occasional events such as the Netherlands’ National Circus we rethought the location and decided to use the wonderful public provision of Hafod Park (SA5 9LE). This is much closer to many people’s homes and isn’t as busy as the Rec.
We are interested in how successfully everybody found the park. This ties in with our development of a digital directory that puts locations and details of help available in the hands of not only practitioners supporting this group but actually in to the hands of the people themselves. One gentleman showed me his smartphone and demonstrated how the Google map app had led him straight to the park – with a route from where he was! A task for our volunteers at the UiD group will be to collect info on what devices people use, to identify and recognise how well this is done as well as giving us the opportunity to plan workshops around improving skills needed.
We are hoping that as the weekly activity (Sundays 2pm to 4pm) develops we can extend welcome to families who can make use of the many different things available at the park. As the weather improves we can expect a table, chairs, juice etc to appear.
A word from our coach:
We are very pleased to see such an enthusiastic turnout. We are hoping that the improving weather allows us to dedicate more time to improve our technical ability and hone our clearly existing skills. I am confident that the people coming can give the needed commitment for us to grow in to a functional team – look out Chelsea! We’re coming to get you.
Cautionary Tales
A great storytelling session this evening with Carl from ‘World of Connection‘. Preparation on Tuesday really paid off with lots of participation. Cautionary tales seemed to be the theme which was clearly familiar to all. A great team effort in recalling the stories step by step, clear evidence of a good understanding of the stories. Well done to the people that told their own stories.
We all know why dogs bark at buses now thanks to an amusing traditional Eritrean story.
Ongoing Storytelling Workshops with Carl from World of Connections
For some time now Carl from World of Connection, NIACE and UiD have collaborated to provide fun, engaging and educational storytelling workshops. This has provided our teachers with the opportunity to embed vocabulary and language focus into their ESOL classes in sessions that lead up to Carl’s wonderful storytelling workshops. This is greatly enjoyed by all and we’re very happy to have it up and running again.
Please check the UiD schedule below.
Information on Carl’s work
Connection was set up by Carl Gough to offer a subtle yet potent mix of entertainment and learning. With over 23 years’ experience of working in the arena of public service, entertainment and education, Carl wanted to begin showing how learning can be accelerated through fun and enjoyment.
The storytelling and workshops offered through Connection can therefore be delivered for pure entertainment value or with an educational focus for learning.
Ultimately, Connection is about people. The business is called Connection for the very simple fact that all our services can be used to create:
- A Connection between people
- A Connection between people and their community
- A Connection between people and place
- A Connection between people and history or heritage
- A Connection between people and the environment
- A Connection between people and new skills or knowledge
The services offered through Connection are highly adaptable and we pride ourselves in working with customers to ensure the activities we provide meet your needs as well as that of your audience. We can provide services for any of the following:
- Education – Schools and Colleges
- Public Entertainment and the Arts
- Business and Staff Development
- Festivals and Community Events
- Interpretation
- Community Regeneration
- Youth Work
- Therapeutic situations
First Aid Training – More Sessions!!
Following an incredible amount of interest shown in the British Red Cross First Aid sessions we now have a second training planned.
We are very happy and grateful to have such engaging and relevant workshops and training available to the UiD members following our recent upheaval and transition. The folks at UiD have voted with their feet on this course which is obviously very relevant to them.
Many thanks to Liam O’Sullivan at British Red Cross for making this wonderful provision available.
Human Rights Awareness session with BAWSO
An amazing turnout for BAWSO’s human rights awareness session at UiD. With over 60+ people in attendance the relevance of the subject matter to the people we support at UiD is clearly evident. Many thanks to Magda and Veronica.
The content of the presentation was very informative indeed, not only for the UiD members but for our local community volunteers also. Questions were asked and responded to perfectly, giving clear examples that in turn gave our local volunteers an insight into issues surrounding the people they love to support. Awareness was raised all round on a vital subject.
We are hoping to extend some sessions on this with participants taking a lead role. Stay Tuned!!
For more information on BAWSO’s work click here -> http://www.bawso.org.uk/
Support Services – Digital Directory under construction
Using the Swansea City of Sanctuary’s 2013 directory of services we are trying to make a digital map that will hopefully contain all the previous info and more. It is a work in progress.
Please provide me with relevant services to add and if there are any important changes that need to be made please let me know. wayneyare@gmail.com
Would you like a chip?
Another busy night at UiD with lots of friendly faces. As we are newly re-established we haven’t yet devised a strategy for providing a meal on Tuesday nights. We are nevertheless looking forward to food kindly cooked and brought along to the group by Govinda’s on Thursdays. Once again our volunteers came through and chips were on the table in no time. Did our members enjoy a traditional British meal? Yes of course they did. Are fish and chips actually British in origin? Well actually they aren’t.
Deep-fried fish was first introduced into Britain during the 16th century by Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain, and is derived from pescado frito. In 1860, the first fish and chip shop was opened in London by Joseph Malin.
Up and Running
UiD is now on its second day of operations since our recent upheaval. Another busy evening with 30+ people attending. Many thanks to everyone for sharing information about the group, its location and opening times. Special thanks to BAWSO. Swansea City of Sanctuary and Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group.
Many thanks to Veronica and Alem from BAWSO for addressing the group about not suffering alone and how to get support in various ways. We are now looking forward to a scheduled awareness session with Veronica and Alem on Human Rights next Thursday. BAWSO does an excellent job of empowering community members to get involved with their work.
BAWSO is an all Wales, Welsh Government Accredited Support Provider, delivering specialist services to people from Black and Ethnic Minority backgrounds who are affected by domestic abuse and other forms of abuse, including Female Genital Mutilation, Forced Marriage, Human Trafficking & Prostitution.
We also had a wonderful ESOL lesson about Welsh culture focusing on St David’s day. Many thanks to Vivien once again.
Looking forward to some delicious food next week provided by the very kind Govinda’s.
UiD community member Mr. S, public speaking for the first time – being greatly empowered by visitors from BAWSO.
Veronica and Alem – Sharing Information
Another busy class focusing on Welsh culture and St David’s day
A fantastic Fresh Start!
Our first day as an independent group could not have gone better. Numerous volunteers in the group were keen to formulate just exactly how we were going to manage the space kindly provided by the church, and ultimately how to make as little impact as possible for our hosts.
We were expecting only a few people at first but we soon had 40+ excited souls, happy to be in a welcoming, safe and fun space.
We also had two very busy ESOL classes provided by our wonderful volunteer teachers; Vivien and David.
Many many thanks to the whole UiD family, all our friends and supporters for making this happen.
Please note: All photos are shared with permission
Unity in Diversity 