The Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Osman Topčagić, and the Mayor of West Midlands, Andy Street, visited the Bosnian House in Birmingham today.
The guests toured the new building, got acquainted with the exhibition dedicated to over 25 years of BH UK Network’s activities, and met representatives of the Bosnian, Ukrainian, and Syrian communities, who, as every day, had their activities at the Bosnian House.
In particular, the Ambassador and the Mayor of the West Midlands spoke to students of English language courses for Ukrainians organised by the Bosnia UK Network and joined the Syrian Bazaar which was held today in the Eveson Hall at the Bosnian House.
In the afternoon we had a meeting with Simon Foster, the Police Commissioner for the West Midlands. It was a good opportunity to thank Simon for his understanding during the process of purchasing the former police station in Sparkhill. We are slowly transforming the new building into a centre from which we coordinate all our activities. This is a great achievement for a community that experienced genocide just over 20 years ago. The fitting out of the premises is still ongoing, and we plan to develop the centre as a place where comprehensive support and assistance will be provided to those in need.
Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the United Kingdom NJ. E. Osman Topčagić said: “As the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I am very happy to be here today and to meet the mayor of West Midlands Andy Street, and also colleagues from BH UK Network. I am happy to see that they are cooperating with local and regional authorities.”
Bosanska kuća also provides support to other recently arrived communities. Our community shares their experience and helps them rebuild their lives in the UK. I am glad to see that this activity “It has also been met with appropriate support from the Birmingham and Midlands authorities to the mutual benefit of us all. For me, as Ambassador, it is another channel for establishing good relations between our two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Kingdom.”
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “Bosnia House is a wonderful resource that supports around 15,000 members of the Bosnian community in Island. It’s also a wonderful resource used by other migrant communities.
This morning we met with the Ukrainian and Syrian teams here at Bosanska House and they showed us some of the activities they organize for their communities, including language classes, as well as employment programs that also take place here. It really is a center for which so many communities have a lot of admiration for what the BH UK Network team is doing here at Bosanska House.”
BH UK Network states that the BiH community plays an important role in connecting the homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Great Britain. Dr. Anes Cerić, Executive Director of BH UK Network , said: “Two weeks ago we held a series of meetings with local government officials in Birmingham. Today, the focus was on meetings with the West Midlands regional authorities. After participating in the festival on the occasion of the International Day of Languages, the focus of our activities will be the celebration of the Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Parliament of Great Britain, which is a reflection of our strategy of creating a network of friends from the local to the national level. We would like to thank Ambassador H.E. Osman Topčagić for his understanding and great support in the implementation of our activities.”
Maria S./BH UK Network
