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Hopes to open Romanian community centre in city

Lucy AshtonSouth Yorkshire political reporter
Emanuel Minea Five women are stood in a row dressed in traditional Romanian clothes. They are wearing brightly coloured flowered skirts, white frilly blouses, fringed shawls and fur lined gillets and some have pink and white floral headdressesEmanuel Minea
Members of Sheffield's Romanian community have met with Sheffield City Council to discuss opening a hub in the S5 postcode area

Members of the Romanian community in Sheffield say they hope to open a hub in the city to bring people together.

There are about 7,000 Romanians living in Sheffield, according to the Association of Romanians in Great Britain (ARGB) community organisation.

Emanuel Minea, from ARGB, is working alongside the Hope 4 Sheffield charity to help establish the community centre.

The aim is to support Romanian families but also link with other communities and share cultural events.

Emanuel said: "There are 40,000 Romanian people in Yorkshire, with 7,000 in Sheffield, but they are widely distributed across the city so it's hard to find where everybody is.

"We have been doing a lot of projects and events to bring people together but the bigger picture is to increase visibility of our community with a hub and to have a weekend language school there."

Emanuel and Gabriela Socol, from Hope 4 Sheffield, have met with Sheffield City Council to discuss opening a hub in the S5 postcode area.

A woman has long blond hair over one shoulder, she is wearing large pink earrings and a black top with a traditional folk flower design. She is standing next to a man with short brown hair, a brown close shaved beard, glasses and a black top. They are standing on a mezzanine floor with large glass windows behind them
Gabriela Socol and Emanuel Minea are among those attempting to establish the centre

"We have never done this before, this is a long-term project planting the seed for the future," said Emanuel.

"Our aim is to empower the community and improve links between UK and Romanian institutions - we already have a partnership with the Romanian Embassy and we want to build on that."

Gabriela, who has already organised community cafes in the city, said: "The community centre will bring people together as there is a lot of loneliness and social isolation.

"We also want to link with other communities - we participated in Chinese New Year as part of a cultural exchange.

"Our wider aim is not only to support the Romanian community, but also to invite other communities across Sheffield to join our events, build bridges and foster meaningful cross-cultural connections."

Recent events have included traditional dancing, healthy eating and cooking on a budget, creative writing and Romanian poetry projects.

The community is holding an Easter gathering and will showcase the Romanian tradition of decorating eggs using beeswax and dyes to create intricate patterns.

The hub would help Romanians living in Sheffield to meet for events, according to those behind the plan

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