Around 100 people gathered in Centre Square on Monday 24 August to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukrainian independence, with Middlesbrough’s Ukrainian community joining a public event outside the Town Hall.
The gathering included members of the town’s Ukrainian community, children who performed a song, and speakers including Petro Rewko MBE, chair of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain. The Ukrainian flag was raised above Middlesbrough Town Hall while the country’s national anthem was played.
A growing local Ukrainian community
Middlesbrough Council said the event was organised by Councillor Luke Henman, its Executive member for Children’s Services, working with Middlesbrough-based social inclusion charity Investing in People and Culture. The charity works with refugees, people seeking asylum and other communities across the North East through learning, employment support and social and cultural activity.
The event took place on 24 August, the date on which Ukraine marks its Independence Day. This year was the 35th anniversary, a milestone also being marked by Ukrainian organisations and communities around Britain.
The anniversary also comes at a moment when organised Ukrainian community life in Middlesbrough is becoming more established. The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain announced this month that Middlesbrough had become one of its newest branches, following an inaugural general meeting on 13 August. Maksym Belilovskyi was elected as the branch’s chair.
AUGB said its branches bring people together, support local Ukrainian communities and connect them with a wider national network. The organisation separately marked the 35th anniversary of independence this week, with Petro Rewko reflecting on what independence has meant to generations of Ukrainians living in Great Britain.
Culture, belonging and a public place
Monday’s Middlesbrough event was small in scale, but its setting gave it a clear public presence. Centre Square sits at the heart of the town, and the ceremony put Ukrainian music, the national flag and members of the local community in one of Middlesbrough’s most visible civic spaces.
The council’s report of the event focused partly on the continuing war in Ukraine. For The Tees, the local significance is also in the community that has formed here: families building lives in Middlesbrough, children taking part in cultural events, and local organisations creating spaces where people can meet and maintain connections with their heritage.
Investing in People and Culture says its work is intended to help refugees and people seeking asylum build futures in the North East, including through social events, learning, employability support and activities that help people connect with others. Its involvement in the Independence Day event links that practical integration work with a celebration led by the community itself.
For people who have arrived in a new town, formal community networks can provide practical continuity as well as cultural connection. In this case, Middlesbrough now has both locally based integration support through organisations such as Investing in People and Culture and a direct branch connection to AUGB’s wider UK network.
The Centre Square gathering took place shortly after Middlesbrough’s new AUGB branch was publicly welcomed by the national association. Together, the two developments give the town’s Ukrainian residents a more visible local network, while keeping links to Ukrainian communities elsewhere in Britain.