Gate news from Uganda - latest developments at Nkuru Business and Vocational Training College

The completion of perimeter fence and 4 lockable gates now provides secure environment for the students at the College and the children in the Pre-school and Primary.

Gates: main entrance, nursery school (upper side entrance), lower side entrance, and rear entrance near kitchen. During the day, the gates are semi-open to give welcoming message to local community.  

Dormitory and shower/toilet blocks have been completed for a further 14 students.

The next phase will see college café developed with increased access for the local community - Improvements to the lower terrace area to include toilet block for customers, coffee hut for serving drinks and small snacks, boda washing bay. There will also be a dining room for use by boarders and day students.

The footprint of the current toilet block for nursery children will be repurposed into a guest room with full en-suite facilities for use for visitors, teachers, examiners etc.

The expansion of courses continues offering increased vocational opportunities for the students.

Immediate development plans for the Primary school include:

  • 2 further primary classrooms to complete the primary school - to be completed before start of new academic year

  • new toilets for nursery/ primary at the back of nursery block

An exciting Volunteer opportunity: Community Guide for Ukrainians arriving in North Wales

The role of Community Guide is a bit like being host for a family or individual, except that you don't actually put them up in your home because the person (or family) will be provided with accommodation and a Living Wage job from the start. In this first instance, the employer owns a hotel in Betws y Coed. 

At the moment this scheme is for Ukrainians only, but Citizens UK are looking to develop similar schemes for other nationalities, once this pilot has been tested and proved to work. 

The key aspect is that it is about bringing more people over (from Ukraine, at this point), not relocating someone already here. Citizens UK have a massive waiting list of people wanting to come.

Please see further details below. 

Would you be interested in finding out more? contact Jonathan Cox via Croeso Menai or via recruitment@citizensuk.org. There's no commitment at this stage. 

Alternatively, if you can think of someone else who might be interested, please pass the word on. It could be a Ukrainian but remember the role is voluntary. And they must be confident in attempting to navigate the bureaucracy of banks, GP registration etc. 

A moving vigil to mark 1 Year following the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Standing resolutely together

Around 100 people gathered outside St John’s Methodist Church in Llandudno last night (24th February) to stand together with our Ukrainian guests. We were hosted by Revd Nigel Rodgers, the Minister of St John’s and Carol Marubbi, the Mayor of Llandudno. There were a number of powerful speeches, a poem and prayers led by the Ukrainians in our community. There were vigorous chants of Glory to Ukraine -Slava Ukraini - and the Ukrainian National Anthem sung with deep emotion.

It was an immense privilege to stand with these brave people and we remain totally committed to welcoming them as members of our communities and long for them to feel at home and share our ‘hiraeth’ with their passion for their homeland.