European and Black Country culture set to mix at festive event
The build up to Christmas in West Bromwich will have an eastern European theme for visitors to a cultural event at a school next weekend.
Black Country based European's Welfare Centre (EWA CIC) and the Consortium of Supplementary Schools organisation is hosting the Christmas celebration event at Phoenix Collegiate School.
It will feature members of the Eastern European community from the region, with Poland, Romania and Ukraine among the countries represented.
Each community has a supplementary school in the area, with the Ukrainian one being the latest, established shortly after the country was invaded.
They are all run under the umbrella of the EWA CIC, which was established in 2013 to provide a wide range of support with a main focus on education to the central and eastern European community living in Black Country.
One of the founders, Elizabeth Kardynal, who is a qualified teacher, said the organisation and the communities it represents had come a long way since the early days and it was going from strength to strength.
She said: "We hope to showcase the work we do through the Christmas event and a book which will be shortly coming out and we are also looking into expanding the schools and the range of communities we work with.
"The Christmas event will feature traditional Christmas themes but with eastern and central European take, such as traditional dancing, arts and crafts and songs from the countries which are represented by the schools in the area, which are thriving and provide good education for the young children of families who come to live here.
"It will be a nice mix of the schools and communities with the heads of Phoenix Collegiate and Langley Primary here as well as parents and pupils from those schools.
The three-hour event will take place at Phoenix Collegiate, Clarkes Lane, West Bromwich on Saturday, December 9, from 10am to 1pm.
