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Ukrainian invasion: Salford’s Ukrainian community rallies to help refugees

By on in Broughton, Community, News

A Salford priest has spoken of the solidarity among the city’s large Ukrainian community in the face of the current conflict – and their willingness to help any refugees.
Father Jevhen Nebesniak from the Ukrainian Parish Church on Bury Old Road is at the centre of the community.
When discussing the response to the current conflict in Ukraine, he spoke about the Salford community’s willingness to aid refugees with “rooms at disposal” and financial help.
Any newcomers to Salford are guided to the Ukrainian Community Centre which is already operating as a collection centre for aid for the victims of the conflict.
Father Nebesniak’s parents moved to the UK from Ukraine in 1947, after being displaced from Western Ukraine after the Second World War.
But Ukrainian residents first migrated to Salford to escape the First World War – more than a century ago.
Their community expanded significantly during the 1940s when a Ukrainian community of around 10,000 chose to settle in and around Greater Manchester.
Growing up Father Nebesniak lived facing the Dushinsky Synagogue.
While living in Salford Father Nebesniak said: “We always spoke Ukrainian… we had the Ukrainian food… we always ate Ukrainian. But obviously sometimes we would get the fish and chips, wrapped in the newspaper.”
After moving to Rome to follow his calling, Father Nebesniak worked back in Ukraine for seven years with young people and orphaned children.
Now back in Salford his Ukrainian Parish Church offers a Holy Liturgy on weekdays and Saturdays at 10am and on Sundays at 9am, 10.30am and 6pm.
Salford has a wealth of Ukrainian connections. During the First World War, Cheetham Hill was used by Allied Canadian soldiers of Ukrainian descent, who began to enrich Ukrainian life in Salford.
Salford has also become the home to Ukraine Road, which is located just off Littleton Road.
On Smedley Lane, there is a Ukrainian Cultural Centre ‘Dnipro’, which was purchased in 1963. By 1968, renovations were already taking place and a two-storey concert hall was built.
Organisers of the centre describe themselves, on their FaceBook page as being “the nucleus” of the Ukrainian community in Manchester and the surrounding areas for more than 60 years.
“The Centre is a valuable asset in the development of Ukrainian culture, education and traditions and has a long record of service to both Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian communities.”

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