Over the Eid al-Fitr Period on Saturday and Sunday 22 and 23 April we hosted 2 Eid parties at our centre. Over three hundred people came to our centre to enjoy Eid and have a lovely time with their family and friends. During the party, we organised different games for children and adults. Desserts and refreshments were provided.
During the blessed month of Ramadan, we hosted two community iftars for the Syrian community in Manchester. The iftars witnessed a great turnout. Delicious food, sweets and refreshments were provided. We also performed taraweeh prayers together.
The iftars were a good opportunity to connect and socilaise with our friends and community members.
On Sunday 10 April 2023, we launched a series on online conversations entitled 'down to earth’ where researchers present findings from their research work and discuss the relevance of these findings to the life and wellbeing of refugees.
In the first episode, Bayan Hakki addressed the following theme:
On Friday 7 April 2023, we organised our annual fundraising iftar for Iqraa School (north Syria) at Eastern Pearl Banqueting Hall in Manchester. The school provides essential educational and psychological support to hundreds of children in Syria.
During this winter, we hosted 8 community dinners (hot food and drinks) for the whole family at our centre. 4 dinners were for the Syrian community and the rest were for the larger local communities attracting people from different ethnicity and age categories. The last two dinners happened during the holy month of Ramadan.
On Wednesday 15 March 2023 we hosted a lecture in Arabic about dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It was presented by Dr Rawaa al Nuaimi who talked about causes and symptoms of PTSD, when to get medical advice and how to treat it.
On 11 March 2023, we celebrated International Women's Day (IWD) with an art workshop where we drew how we perceive ourselves to be with the amazing artist Rand Jundi
Then we shared a delicious lunch.
And finally we heard from Professor Eiman Kanjo:
(Top 50 Women in Engineering Winner 2022)
On Friday 10 March 2023 we hosted a dinner for our local community. It was an exciting event. It included delicious hot dinner, calligraphy and painting activities, presentation on the cost of living crisis, adult quiz, and children's room with film and coloring. The dinner attracted more 100 people. The atmosphere was warm and lovely.
We hosted 2 events to our community to practise their English conversation skills with friendly native English speakers. The 1st event was held online on the 3rd of Feb 2022 whilst the 2nd event was at our centre on the 3rd of Mar 2022. All levels were welcome. It was a great opportunity to build confidence and employability skills.
On Wednesday 22 Feb 2023, we hosted series of computer skills workshops for beginners. The workshops were presented by Mr Mohammed Alhamadi, an IT professional from the University of Manchester. Mr Alhamadi taught students basic skills that help them to deal with their daily lives.