The Ipswich Flyer Magazine September ’24
In the Ipswich Flyer Magazine September ’24 edition of The Flyer Magazine has an September update from local groups and community news. And we also many local events happening in September in Ipswich and District. We also have the regular news from local community groups and charities in this free local magazine.
The Ipswich Flyer Magazine September ’24 Updates
New Ipswich Library project is reaching out to local Romanian community with film festival and other events
Ipswich County Library has received the backing of a Europe-wide programme to help the local Romanian community in Ipswich.
The library’s new outreach project has received funding and support from The Europe Challenge which is helping to provide a range of new initiatives and activities. The project will include a Romanian film festival in September and has funded more Romanian language books and resources, and more support for Romanian speakers to encourage them to get a library card and visit the library.
The Ipswich Flyer Magazine September ’24
Ipswich has around 3,300 Romanian speakers and it’s the second most spoken language in Ipswich. This growing community faces barriers accessing and integrating with local services and opportunities.
The project was the idea of Hannah Blackmore, Assistant Manager of Ipswich County Library who based her Masters Dissertation on multilingual users at the library. She discovered that although there is a significant Romanian-speaking population in the area, they did not use the library regularly and there were not as many books or information available in their language.
The Ipswich Flyer Magazine September ’24
Hannah said:
“I’m so excited that our project was accepted onto the Europe Challenge. It’s a wonderful opportunity for the library and Ipswich Romanian Community which will help us to build a stronger community here in Ipswich and improve social inclusion and wellbeing. It’s also connected us to a supportive network of other teams across Europe – I’ve learned so much from them already and been inspired by how they are working to uplift their libraries and communities.
“Suffolk Libraries aims for all its libraries to be a welcoming space for all members of the community, where everyone can belong. This includes trying to identify and do more for groups we are not reaching.”
Romeo Mustata, the founder and director of Ipswich Romanian Community (IRC), has been heavily involved in the project and helped to identify several areas where the library could help. He said:
“The outreach project in collaboration with Ipswich County Library for the Ipswich Romanian Community is crucial because it fosters inclusion, supports cultural integration, and provides access to essential resources and services for the Romanian community in Ipswich.
“Working in partnership with the library has been incredibly rewarding. It’s a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the community and make a meaningful impact by bridging cultural gaps and facilitating access to knowledge and resources. The collaboration has been seamless, and I’m excited about the positive outcomes it will bring for both the Romanian community and the library.”
The full details of the Film Festival will be announced very soon. The plan is to screen a selection of free feature films, documentaries and short films to celebrate the Romanian culture and community.
The Europe Challenge project has also achieved the following:
- Free English classes have been held in the library with over 20 people attending every week, these include several Ukrainian people who speak Romanian too.
- New Romanian books for children and adults have been bought for the library. One Romanian speaking girl from a local school has recently commented about being impressed to see the new books.
- Bilingual tours of the library have taken place and information on joining the library has been translated into Romanian
- Hannah and Romeo attended the Europe Challenge summit in Cambridge with other challenge teams from libraries all over Europe. In September Hannah will be presenting the project in Amsterdam at a final showcase event at OBA Public Library, along with the other library workers from across Europe.