Sharing food and culture at West Bann

One of the CMCF’s aims is to organise occasions when people from different cultures can come together to share food and to get to know one another.

The afternoon began with some lovely dancing by the fairly recently formed ‘Polish Dance Class’ for children, who had been practising hard with their hardworking teacher, Kasia Bajorska.

Then there was an amazing feast provided by those attending, with food representing the Caribbean, England, Germany, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel, the Philippines, Poland and South Africa - a wonderful assortment of savoury and sweet dishes for everyone to try.

Later a group from the Philippines sang some lovely songs, which was followed by a moving solo of a Christy Moore song by Brian Dunne.

Sabine Jones from Age Concern said older members of the ethnic communities were welcome to contact the organisation for help, advice and social activities.

The CMCF Chair, Christine Turner, thanked everyone for coming along, bringing their food and helping to make the afternoon such good fun. She hoped that everyone had got to know at least one new person. Special thanks went to the members of the Forum and to Bronagh McFadden, the Ethnic Minorities Support Worker. Bronagh supports ethnic community groups in a wide range of ways throughout the area.

People were invited to come along to the next CMCF meeting on Tuesday, April 1cat 7pm in the meeting rooms at the Church of Christ in Artillery Road.

The Forum is open to anyone who wishes to participate; it is a networking organisation which acts as a catalyst for positive change and encourages people from different cultural communities in whatever way possible.