A group of young people from partner city Zaporizhzhia spent a week in Birmingham, meeting the Lord Mayor and discovering a city with its own long history of welcoming people displaced by war.
The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Zaker Choudhry, welcomed a group of young Ukrainians to the Council House on 16th September, part way through a week-long visit that took them from Parliament to Warwick Castle and, eventually, into the homes of families across the city.
The visitors, aged 11 to 17, came from Zaporizhzhia (Birmingham’s partner city in Ukraine) for a programme of cultural, educational and community activities put together by the Birmingham City Council’s International Affairs team, Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network and Zaporizhzhia City Council itself. After a tour of the Council House, the group went on to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Library of Birmingham, taking in some of the city’s best-known landmarks in a single afternoon.
Growing up with war in the background
For young people who have grown up against the backdrop of Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine, the trip offered something simple: a week away from the pressures of daily life at home, a chance to see Birmingham and the UK, and the space to make new friends. Beyond the civic welcome, the programme included a visit to London and Parliament and trips to Warwick Castle, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Brindley Cruises, several of whom offered free or discounted tickets, alongside Johnsons Coaches, to help make the week possible.
A city that knows what welcome means
What makes this visit stand out is who was doing the welcoming. In the 1990s, Bosnian genocide survivors found safety and a fresh start in Birmingham. Three decades on, the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network, founded by that same community, has drawn on its own experience to support Ukrainians and others displaced by war. Bosnia House recruited and supported the host families, handled safeguarding, and gave the group a community base for the week. Families across Birmingham and beyond opened their homes, giving the visitors a taste of everyday life alongside the city’s more formal welcome.
In their own words
Councillor Zaker Choudhry said: “Birmingham is proud to welcome these young people from Zaporizhzhia. Our city has a long tradition of welcoming people from across the world, including those who have been forced from their homes by conflict. This visit shows Birmingham at its best, our council, voluntary organisation, families and communities working together to offer friendship, support and a warm welcome”.
Dr Anes Cerić, Honorary Consul of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Midlands and CEO of the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network, added: “Thirty years ago, Birmingham welcomed Bosnians who had been forced from their homes by war… Now we have an opportunity to extend that same welcome to young people from Ukraine. For us, this is what community means, people who once received support being in a position to offer that support to others”.
The group returned to Zaporizhzhia on Saturday, but the friendships made during the week are expected to outlast it, another thread in a relationship between the two cities that keep finding new ways to renew itself.
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