Maryhill takes a trip around the world!

Maryhill Housing has celebrated its multicultural communities with a fun, family event. The ‘Maryhill around the World’ event was held to celebrate the multicultural nature of modern Scotland and to ensure that all tenants feel part of the Maryhill Housing community.

Maryhill Housing has tenants from various international backgrounds, including Africa, China and Poland.

The event featured face painting, balloon modelling, entertainment and international food and soft drinks on what was an enjoyable and inclusive afternoon with a truly global theme.

Maryhill also welcomed representatives from the inspiring Glasgow-based organisation Refuweegee. Refuweegee was set up in December 2015 to provide a warm welcome to forcibly displaced people arriving in Glasgow. As a result of the amazing response from people in Glasgow and beyond, it has provided over 2000 personal welcome packs and gained charitable status in September 2016.

An interesting feature of these packs are letters written by Glaswegians to welcome those being helped in the city. The ‘Letter Fae A Local’ is considered an important addition to the pack and in keeping with Glasgow’s appeal as “the friendly city”.

Those attending the Maryhill event designed shopping bags and wrote letters to record their own welcomes.

Maryhill Integration Network was also present in the form of dancers – some from as far away as Albania and Greece - and a choir providing spectacular entertainment.

Bryony Willett, Chief Executive of Maryhill Housing, said: “This was a great way of bringing people together and further strengthening community cohesion. We are pleased to have organised an event which is a celebration of diversity. We are determined to ensure our tenants feel a sense of belonging no matter where they are from”

Prior to the hugely-successful Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, Maryhill Housing commissioned a landmark piece of urban art on one of its tenement buildings to show it was proud of – and remains committed to – multi-culturalism.

It was unveiled in time for the Games and has been an eye-catching addition to the busy Maryhill Road. Three children make up the main focus of the work reflecting the diversity and multi-culturalism of modern-day Maryhill.

Pictured: Some of the dancers at the Maryhill event.