One year anniversary of Conversation Café and Ukraine Welcome Hub for Devon
On 24 March 2022, Maketank and a community of volunteers opened the Conversation Café at 6 Paris Street, Exeter, to serve as a space of learning about Ukraine, the reasons for and implications of the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, and to support newly arriving Ukrainians to Devon and their sponsors.
It soon became the welcome hub for refugees and new arrivals from Ukraine, with a mission to create a culture of welcome and safety for those seeking a sanctuary from war.
Since opening, the Café has served nearly 1,000 displaced Ukrainians – mostly mothers with children - in their arrival to Devon. The café had over 6,700 visits from 24 March - 31 December 2022. It has provided advice, welfare, and other assistance to relieve suffering and hardship to those in need as well as frontline services including consultations, translation, procuring mobiles and SIM cards, setting up bank accounts, filing for benefits, helping find sponsors, etc.
Since May 2022, the Café has been run by the Devon Ukrainian Association, an organization created by and for Ukrainians with the support of Maketank to provide further guidance for newly arrived Ukrainians in setting up business and start up support programmes and to create educational and cultural programmes.
These programmes advance education amongst Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers through the provision of language and other supplementary classes, and provide space to celebrate and share Ukrainian culture and history with each other, their sponsors and the British public at large.
The Café itself began with a series of awareness and fund-raising programs, including the Ukrainian Play Reading Event on 31 March of two brand new plays about the war; a window art installation by Toby Chanter at Maketank in support of Ukraine from 15th - 20th April; a large Easter celebration with over 120 Ukrainians and their sponsors at Maketank on 24 April, another new play reading To Refuge fundraiser performance on 10-12th May at Mermaid with the support of Exeter Phoenix and Arts and Culture University of Exeter, and the week-long presentation of new art created by Ukrainians in Devon as part of Art Week Exeter 6-12 June.
Acting as a cultural catalyst, the Devon Ukrainian Association has produced 54 events and projects, some with the help of 10 other local non-profit organisations and charities. This includes our biggest project, Refugee Support Programme, where we delivered 30 Weeks of intensive Refugee Support, supported by Citizens Advice Exeter and Wellbeing Exeter.
Please join us on Friday 24 March from 4-6pm to mark the one-year anniversary of the Café’s opening. We will celebrate the immense volunteer network that has supported the Café and the people of Ukraine over the last twelve months, including Thornton West Residential Association, Exeter Community Alliance, Maketank Resident Artists, Devon For Ukraine and Devon For Ukrainian Refugees.
We would especially like to thank Exeter City Council, Devon County Council, The Crown Estate and Princesshay Management for all their generous support of the Café and its parent organizations.
For more information visit www.dua.org.uk and www.maketank.org.uk
