Ep 344 – Birmingham Irish Association Toy Appeal & Irish in Britain’s “Look Back to Look Forward” Exhibition

In Part 1… Just before Christmas, the Birmingham Irish Association launched their toy appeal. In these difficult times, Local schools and Irish Associations get together to collect toys for children that may not be fortunate enough to receive Christmas presents. Also on the collecting day, the Birmingham Association organises its Day Centre Christmas party, supporting those with dementia. It’s a great opportunity for the schools to also support the elderly Irish within the community.

We talk to Eddie O’Connor, Vice Principal – Bishop Challoner Catholic College who is part of the team behind the toy appeal and Terry Nash, Activities Co-ordinator for the Dementia Service.

Catering for over 160 people, Trudy McGroarty, Birmingham Irish Association Service Manager, explains to us about the essential services the association provides and how critical continuing funding is.

With music from Jimmy McLaughlin, the Christmas Spirit is very much alive in Birmingham.

In Part 2… The Irish in Britain are celebrating 50 years of supporting community groups and we went along to their touring exhibition that tells the stories of Irish migrants. The Irish have a great tradition of story telling and the “Oral Histories” part of the exhibition features recordings of those that made the journey across to Britain and how their lives changed.

We talk with Roisin Jones, Heritage Assistant for the Irish in Britain and we also hear some of the audio recordings from the Irish community.

The “Look Back to Look Forward” exhibition is at the London Irish Centre 5^th to 14^th January 2024 but if you can’t make it, many more Oral Histories can be heard online. Search for “Irish in Britain Oral Histories”

For more information…

The Irish in Britain… www.irishinbritain.org

Birmingham Irish Association… www.birish.org.uk

Watch the Irish in the UK every Thursday night at 7.30pm on SKY 186 or Freesat 162. Repeated on Tuesday at 1 pm