Rochdale shows its support for Ukraine

Date published: 28 February 2022

Members of the local community turned out in their forces to show support for Ukraine at a vigil on Saturday (26 February).

The vigil and prayers for peace were held at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St Mary and St James on Yorkshire Street, following the large-scale military attack on the Eastern European country by Russia last week.

As the church opened, there were flowers that had been left at the gate and more flowers and gifts of tea and biscuits presented at the Ukrainian Association centre.

From the moment the doors opened, there was a steady stream of people coming in who wanted to show their support and take a moment to pray for peace.

When the service began at 3pm, the church was full with standing room only.

 

 

The service was introduced by Olga Kurtianyk, Chair Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (Rochdale Branch), who welcomed everybody, a candle was lit for peace in Ukraine and then Olga shared a moving poem ‘It Makes No Difference To Me’ by Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko.

Written in 1847, the words rang very true for many local Ukrainians:

It makes no difference to me,
If I shall live or not in Ukraine
Or whether any one shall think
Of me 'mid foreign snow and rain.
It makes no difference to me.

In slavery I grew 'mid strangers,
Unwept by any kin of mine;
In slavery I now will die
And vanish without any sign.
I shall not leave the slightest trace
Upon our glorious Ukraine,
Our land, but not as ours known.
No father will remind his son
Or say to him, "Repeat one prayer,
One prayer for him; for our Ukraine
They tortured him in their foul lair."

It makes no difference to me,
If that son says a prayer or not.
It makes great difference to me
That evil folk and wicked men
Attack our Ukraine, once so free,
And rob and plunder it at will.
That makes great difference to me.

 

 

The service then continued with hymns and prayers in Ukrainian for the Ukrainian priest Reverend Father Benjamin Lysykanech and the Ukrainian Orthodox Protopresbyter Bohdan Matwijczuk, who introduced his deacon, who had planned to return to Ukraine to support his family but had been unable to as all flights were cancelled. 

The Reverend Anne Gilbert then shared a poem by Ged Flynn and led prayers in English including the prayer written by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. 

The Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Aasim Rashid spoke on behalf of the community sharing a message of solidarity and support, which was followed by prayers and a blessing from The Right Reverend Mark Davies, Bishop of Middleton.

The service concluded with a Ukrainian hymn for peace and the Ukrainian National Anthem. 

Revd Gilbert said: “It was a very moving service and the support shown by the community of Rochdale meant so much to Olga and the Ukrainian Association members from Rochdale.”

 

 

Last week – before the crisis unfolded – Councillor Neil Emmott, leader of Rochdale Borough Council, said that Rochdale would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine.

Speaking at the council’s annual budget setting meeting on Wednesday night (23 February), he said: “We will not have any business with any company that is connected with the Russian government or with Russia whatsoever.

“And that’s in terms of our own purchasing as a council and also through STAR procurement [with Stockport and Trafford councils].”
 

Read more: ‘We will not do business with Russia’ – council leader’s vow as Ukraine crisis escalatesPublished: 26 February 2022

 

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has also written to Vitali Klitschko, Andriy Sadovyi and Ihor Terekhov, Mayors of Kyiv, Lviv and Kharkiv respectively, to show support and solidarity from people in Greater Manchester following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In his letters, Mr Burnham says: “I am writing to express my shock, sorrow and outrage at the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Greater Manchester has strong links with Ukraine and we are home to thousands of people of Ukrainian heritage. Our whole population stands in solidarity with you and your citizens at this terrible time.

“The people of Greater Manchester are known for our generosity. Over the coming time, if there is any particular humanitarian assistance or supplies that you need, please just ask us and we will do what we can to help."

 

 

The Ukrainian community in Rochdale is well established, with many residents' parents and grandparents coming to the UK as refugees after World War Two.

The borough of Rochdale has lengthy links to Ukraine, and since 1992 has been twinned with the city of Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine.

On the tenth anniversary of the twinning, a bridge over the river Roch in Rochdale town centre was named after the city.

In 2008, Rochdale became the first town in the UK to recognise the Holodomor – the enforced Ukrainian famine – and the first town to honour the victims with a memorial stone the following year.

The service, which is held every year in Rochdale, commemorates the millions of men, women and children who were barbarically and systematically starved to death in the manmade famine between 1932 and 1933.
 

Read more: Rochdale’s Ukrainian community remembers 88th anniversary of tragic Holodomor genocidePublished: 29 November 2021

 

 

Donations for the Ukrainian refugees are being accepted at Singleton's Dance Academy in Rochdale. Its owner Gemma Finbarr-Smith, who last year co-ordinated donations for Afghan refugees, has opened the doors to her dance studio again to anyone wishing to donate goods to help the Ukrainians and any refugees fleeing the country.

 

Read more: Singleton's Dance Academy opens doors for donations towards Ukrainian refugeesPublished: 28 February 2022