'Spring Reign', an honest and insightful account of the Syrian conflict, played at The Lowry on 19 and 20 May.
Directed and produced by our good friend Ben Power, the play was very positively received by a diverse audience and gave a powerful narration of Syrians' experiences through art.
RR ran its first workshop for Syrian refugees/new Syrians to Britain on Sunday 17th May 2015. The workshop was on internet skills, and participants learned how to create Gmail, PayPal, and eBay accounts.
This workshop was run under a grant from the 'We Love Manchester' Charity
The Syrian community of Manchester had the good pleasure of meeting with Barbara, Lucy, and Adam Henning (family of the late Alan Henning) for breakfast at the RR office on 16 May. We are very thankful to the Henning family for accepting our invitation and hope that it was just the start of a continued and warm relationship between the family and our community.
RR's May monthly seminar was on the topic of peacebuilding and was delivered by International Alert's Barry Navarro. Barry discussed elements of peacebuilding and touched on the role of diaspora communities in achieving peace in conflict-torn countries, all in the context of the Syrian conflict.
RR met with Police and Crime Commissioner of Greater Manchester Tony Lloyd to update him on the work of the office and to seek his advice on Syria-related issues. We spoke with Tony on issues ranging from airport stops, to networking with new and old MPs, to formulating and advocating for Syria-related policy, to rising levels of Islamophobia.
The Lord Mayor of Manchester visited the RR office on 11 May to present a cheque from the 'We Love Manchester Charity'. RR obtained funding from this Charity to launch workshops for Syrian refugees that will help them to learn about British culture as well as some basic English, computer, and job-searching skills.
Some of our community members, including over twenty children, took part in the Great Manchester Run on 9 and 10 May. Our brave participants ran for Syria and raised over £17,000 for the Iqraa school which is fully funded by the Syrian community of Manchester and their friends.
It in never late to donate for this great cause:
RR participated in the Conflict Ideas Forum hosted by International Alert in London on Tuesday 28 April. This forum explored peacebuilding approaches to violent extremism in Europe and provided an opportunity for practitioners and academics to discuss fresh approaches that could be developed in tackling this issue.
RR hosted the Manchester Syrian community's monthly seminar at its multi-purpose facility on Sunday 26 April 2015 titled: “The Syrian Revolution: The present and the future”.
The seminar was delivered by Dr. Abdulkarim Bakkar over GoMeeting.
RR participated in a protest organised by Paul Davies, Communist League candidate for Manchester Central, to open UK and EU borders to immigrants coming from Libya and Syria.
RR reminded the audience of the atrocities that continue to be perpetrated by the Assad regime and called for the UK to accept more Syrian refugees.