Blog Archives
Swansea Beach Soccer Tournament 2016
UID FC took part in the beach soccer on Sunday and put in a very good performance. Out of the seven games played we won 5, drew 1 and lost 1.
The results were;
An excellent run of results which saw UID scoring 15 goals whilst conceding only 4. The only defeat was by a single goal against quick young opposition in a very even game, which was not decided until the very late goal.
A very different day for the team as the loose sand surfaces were very demanding. This was best reflected by the comments regarding pitch size ending after the first match. The conditions taking their toll as players had to pull out injured. Those players who did make it to the end showed great character to keep going as the squad reduced in size to leave only one substitute available for the last game. It was most pleasant to be reminded that the team had said they would win the last three games after the one defeat after the final match. A final game with a very fitting and satisfying come from behind win against opponents who fought for every single ball.
Typically there was some concern whether we would have a team or not as the morning saw the continuation of the grey low clouds and drizzle which have replaced summer this year. It was important to get a team out there and to play with purpose. There were one or two absentees from the early player lists so we were lucky to have enough players in the end.
Thanks and congratulations go to the whole team! I hope that our players now rest and recover so we can put in some training sessions before our match in Talgarth in two weeks time. We have proved we can play and win against a variety of opponents today, so lets get ourselves prepared, then we can go to Talgarth and win too.
Llangorse Respite Trip
On Sunday 10th July, asylum seekers and refugees living in the Swansea area were made very welcome in and around the Llangors lake area in Powys on a wonderful respite trip facilitated by Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for refugees (HBTS4R) and their incredibly kind supporters.
This is the ninth respite trip provided by HBTS4R since last December. These trips are very popular indeed and a vital break for those on the fringes of society who are limited in what activities they can do whilst experiencing high levels of anxiety due to waiting prolonged periods of time for Home Office decisions. Reactions and feedback from such trips are always of immense gratitude for being made so welcome in such amazingly beautiful places and the great activities provided.
We offer many thanks to all those that made this such a fantastic day for everyone involved;
- Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees for devising such programs and their kind ongoing support.
- Ty Mawr Lime for hosting
- Kirsty Willimas Am, Cllr Mel Davies and Ex Mp Roger Williams for showing solidarity
- Brecon Food bank, Morrisons Brecon, Aldi Brecon and COOP Brecon for donations of food and countless individual donations of food and toiletries [mostly anonymous].
- Llangorse Multi Activity Centre for showing the beaver sanctuary
- Llyn Safaddan and Beacons Benefice [for toiletries and cakes]
- Llangorse Youth & Community Centre for hosting the day so ably coordinated by Melrose East.
- Llangorse church in Wales school for messages of welcome.
- The kind volunteers from Swansea bay Asylum Seeker Support Group and Unity in Diversity for coming along and helping out.
Maria (SBASSG) speaks for us all in her feedback on the day.
I am writing on behalf of all of us (asylum seekers, refugees and volunteers) who benefited from your hospitality at Ty Mawr and Llangorse yesterday. We all had a wonderful time. I think it is the people who see our friends on a weekly basis that really notice a difference in their demeanour on a day like this. I don’t think I had ever seen one particular man smile before, his wife and children, one of whom he has never seen, are in his home country. He smiled and laughed yesterday and said to me that he was “feeling ok today”. What a testament to what you are doing. Another man who had only been in Swansea for two weeks and can speak virtually no English, found a fellow ‘countryman’ who was keen to help him, having been in his position before. There was a lot of ‘signposting’ going on, which is invaluable. Your kindness is so appreciated, but it is difficult for our friends to express this. We hear snippets of conversation on the way home about the delicious food, the kind people, the beautiful countryside and the peace. They ALL want to come again, most want to live near Brecon now! There was obviously an enormous amount of work and effort put in to organising and catering for such an event, but all I can say is that it was worth it. Exhausted from fresh air and exercise, full of wholesome food and clutching bags of gifts – 50+ people went home very happy yesterday. Thank you one and all.
Maria & Co
Many thanks from the folks at UiD for the kind donations brought back from our trip 🙂
Click Here to see how you can easily make ‘free’ donations to UiD when shopping at your favourite on-line stores.
Sudanese Community Cohesion Event @uidswansea
Many thanks indeed to the Swansea’s kind Sudanese community for providing such engaging and informative activities at Unity in Diversity.
What a wonderful evening of traditional poetry, music, dance and participatory drama where we all learned of the conflicts in Sudan and difficulties faced as an asylum seeker or refugee in your new home. Many issues were addressed and there were many clear messages of positivity demonstrated articulately and effectively through drama. An incredibly well-planned event with the clear objective of promoting cohesion and personal development within the community. We are very proud to host such a dynamic program, devised and delivered by our community members themselves.
Live Music at UiD
We are very excited about our first live music performance at Unity in Diversity.
Well-known local musicians Andy Tamlyn and Kenny McDonald will kindly entertain us with their wonderfully heartfelt music.
Plans are afoot to celebrate our collective wealth of cultural music and comedy in more performances at UiD – stay tuned!
Well played UiD FC!
Saturday saw our second official game against another side, The Swansea Panthers.
It was an excellent turnout for our team with lots of players eager to have a go.
Many thanks to those that came along and played so hard/well against this long established team.
Great Players – Great Fun!
Our training sessions are well established now with lots of people enjoying getting together on Sundays AND Wednesdays now. Following our match with Swansea university staff we are focussed on developing our game and having regular healthy fun as a team.
Stay tuned for news of playing other teams soon.
Unity in Diversity Football Training – Flyer-Map-Info
*all photos are shared with express permission of those pictured.
Happy First Aid Trainees
Many thanks to Liam from British Red Cross for making the wonderful first-aid training sessions available to us.
We are very happy to have our community members showing off their new certificates.
If you would like to do first-aid training yourself please come and see us at UiD.
Photo Gallery: Please note that all photos are shared with express permission from those pictured.
Sharing Stories – Sharing Understanding. End of Project Celebration.
We are very proud of our participants at yesterday’s storytelling end of project celebration. Many thanks to Carl Gough from World of Connections, NIACE and Beyond The Border for providing these engaging and fun activities for us at UiD. We are very happy to have had so many people participating in the storytelling sessions and preparation lessons. Enormous respect for those that got up and told stories so well and importantly in a language other than their own. The outcomes have been fantastic with tangible evidence of improving English language skills and self-confidence. Something that has echoed throughout are the connections made between cultures and our collective love/need for stories. We have learnt so much about each other’s backgrounds, absolutely fantastic.
Many many thanks to all involved, especially the brave folks that got up and gave it their all at yesterday’s event. The feedback was excellent – we are very proud indeed.
Unity in Diversity 