March Month of Action

March was a busy month at the Kurdish Centre. Thanks to all of you who came and everyone who volunteered to run a workshop. It just shows the potential our community has when we have the space to come together. 

The month kicked off with the second session in Jo’s mindfulness programme, this time focusing on ‘mindful listening’. Jo challenged us to connect, listen and be heard in different ways and ended with a positive meditation on sending kindness to a friend. 

The following week we welcomed Baroness Martha Osama who lived and campaigned in the Campsbourne Estate back in the 70s. Her story of activism and how Campsbourne residents and local allies rallied against racism and got the Kurdish Centre (then a community centre) built was inspiring to all of us and showed that it’s never an easy ride, but worth pushing! Read more about Martha’s fascinating story here.

In a quick shift change, local resident Ayça ran a children’s pickling workshop. Ayça has clearly missed a calling as a children’s TV presenter, but CBeebies loss is our gain. She taught the kids (and some of the adults) about the gut benefits of fermentation and each family left the session with a brightly coloured jar of fermenting veg after an hour of chopping and chatting.

Other fun community sessions included a singing workshop with Emma who taught us new tunes whilst encouraging us to share songs from our own cultures. We’re hoping to get something more regular going so watch this space. The same goes for the lego afternoon and the book swap which the children loved. Donnacadh organised a fantastic acting group and those that came loved hearing about the community work around acting and confidence that he has planned. We need a few more people to join next time … no acting skills are needed.

Sadly our keep fit sessions were cancelled last minute due to family illness but this is definitely something we are going to retrial so for those who overindulged over Easter, there’s still hope.

And finally we were very pleased to have our own surgery with local councillor Dana. Residents kept Dana busy, raising a range of issues from housing conditions to the controversial CPZ. Dana stayed longer than planned to address these issues and we hope that our local councillors will continue to engage with the Campsbourne community.

As well as these scheduled activities, Filiz kept up her regular Kurdish kitchen and food waste distribution. The Kurdish Centre also welcomed a stream of new visitors, including a group interested in setting up Francophone book club. Watch this space for a new programme over the summer.