Uplifting Ukrainian voices with Maria Romanenko

9.1 Uplifting Ukrainian voices with Maria Romanenko transcript

Intro

Hello, listeners, and welcome to Season 9 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. I'm your host, Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe, offering you a warm Mancunian welcome.

This season is extra special as I'm collaborating with the Spirit of Manchester Awards, celebrating the city's voluntary and community sector. Throughout the season, I'll be featuring interviews with award winners and nominees, shining a light on the incredible work happening across our city.

Every Tuesday, I bring you the stories of Manchester's community champions, individuals working for a range of causes and making life better for the people of Manchester. My hope is to inspire you to discover your own purpose, whether through volunteering or by getting involved in the social impact sector, while also celebrating good causes and spreading positivity.

You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or my website at www.meetthemancunian.co.uk. Stay tuned for a season full of inspiring social impact stories.

Introduction to Maria Romanenko

[00:01:12] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Passionate about supporting Ukraine refugees. We hear from Maria Romanenko, award winning activist and Spirit of Manchester Award nominee for Volunteer of the Year.

Thank you so much, Maria, for taking the time.

[00:01:25] Maria Romanenko: Thank you so much for having me, Deepa.

[00:01:27] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Tell us first about how you found your passion for supporting the local community, before we come to the specifics of what you do to support Ukraine refugees.

Maria's Journey from Kyiv to the UK

[00:01:37] Maria Romanenko: My background is actually in journalism. I'm Ukrainian and I lived in Kyiv before 2022. And then the full-scale invasion happened, I was still a journalist. It was my main job before that and at that point as well. And then the invasion happened.

I was in Kyiv region and had a very long journey crossing the border and coming to Poland. I didn't have a UK visa at the time, so then it took a very long time to get permission to come to the UK. But it just so happened that even before I was fleeing, before the full-scale invasion, especially during the start of it, that my story got a lot of attention in international media, especially media in the UK.

And it was like one of the top stories alongside other war related stories, of course. So when I got to Poland, my partner who is British and I, we were able to use the media attention and the journalists who we made contact with to the benefit in order to be able to come to the UK, because we didn't want to be stuck in Poland. It would cost us money and other things.

Settling in the UK and Media Attention

[00:02:45] Maria Romanenko: So I came to the UK and took a very long time to recover from everything I saw at the border, which were a lot of horrible things, because there were thousands of people there, it was a lot of people. We saw people being carried out on stretchers all the time. We heard that at least one person was dead from all the crashing. To be honest, from what I've seen, it was probably definitely a lot more than one person.

So we saw some horrible things. We were on our feet for 23 hours without food, water or toilet facilities. and in that environment where there was lots of pushing and crushing, as I described, so it was quite unsafe.

And for a lot, for a long part of it, I didn't even know if I would make it out alive, if I would make it out to safety but we did. And then, as I said, we used the attention of the journalists who were reporting my story already in order to pressure Home Office to give me permission to come to the UK.

Finding Purpose in Helping Others

[00:03:40] Maria Romanenko: And then after I recovered in the UK from all of the shock and trauma of what I saw. And caught up with what was happening in Ukraine, I realised that I speak English fluently. I obviously speak Ukrainian fluently. I have some knowledge of the UK because I studied here before. I did my A levels in England and also I went to university here.

So that puts me ahead of probably like at least 98 percent of Ukrainians who come to the UK. They already started arriving because the schemes were shortly announced after a couple of weeks, the visa schemes for Ukrainians. And I realised that I could help with those skills.

And it was basically mostly out of the fact that I wanted to give back. I benefited from people's kindness. So now all I do is give back and, people's kindness was manifested in various ways from the journalists who helped me and very thoroughly reported on everything that was happening to me and with me to people who welcomed me in the UK.

And even in Poland, we saw some incredible generosity. People were just giving us everything, food, drink, water and coffee. And we were driven to a different city for free. There was so much kindness. And then it continued in the UK because I arrived and then neighbours were popping in who I never met before with flowers or drawings from their children.

And then there was even one lady in Primark because I needed to attend a wedding for my partner's friends. And I obviously didn't have any clothes with me. I literally fled with just bare, I want to say essentials, but it was weekend stuff because I thought I was going for a weekend to my dad's and then that's where the war caught me.

And there was a lady in Primark who saw me in the queue buying some stuff and she just gave me a 20-pound note and I really wanted to refuse and I really wanted to say please don't, it's fine, I have money. But she really insisted. It was just things like that. So now I do realise how I was helped in this journey.

So that's that's the main driver for me is the fact that I want to give back to the community here in Manchester, here in the UK and to the Ukrainians who are less fortunate than me and to Ukraine. And, there's a lot that I feel I can give to people as gratitude and because that's how the world works. If you take something, you need to give back.

[00:06:02] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm so sorry to hear everything that you've been through. And it must have been a very difficult time. And it's lovely that you're using that time and all the support you got to pay it forward and support the community.

So tell us more about how you support Ukrainian refugees. Are there particular organisations you're part of or is it something that you do more informally?

[00:06:25] Maria Romanenko: It all started and probably to this moment, it still is in that way. It all started as volunteering and just putting in many hundreds of hours into helping the Ukrainian community here.

Challenges Faced by Ukrainian Refugees

[00:06:38] Maria Romanenko: The problem is that Ukrainians come to the UK unprepared. They face all sorts of issues here in the UK that aren't addressed by the government, because the government promised wraparound support.

This is literally the quote that the phrase that they used when they were announcing the Ukrainian schemes, that they give wraparound support and British people just need to open up their houses and, everything else will be done by the government. But in reality, there were lots of issues and still lots of issues that aren't addressed because the visa just gives you a pathway to legally enter the country.

But pretty much everywhere else in every single step that Ukrainians have to take, they have to figure out how to do it on their own or with the help of their British hosts. And then also the gaps that are not addressed by existing organisations that obviously do a lot.

There's many organisations that already help Ukrainians in the UK, but they all do very specific things because that's what they've been doing, for a long time before that. So it's hard for them to think creatively where, help can still be needed.

And obviously Ukrainians also as a result of this, but also mainly as a result of everything going back in our country is that they have a lot of problems with their mental health. Because all of us have lived through and carry a lot of mental health trauma and there's no way to fully recover from that until Ukraine wins.

And there's another issue is the low income issue. Most Ukrainians who come to the UK, they are now here on very low income because they have the biggest hurdle in is in the fact that their English is not good enough to get any good job or anything in line with what they did back in Ukraine.

The standard language provision ESOL classes given by local authorities are five hours a week. Two half days a week and it's in a group setting. It's not very high-quality classes in the sense that they don't get Ukrainians and anyone because these ESOL classes are for all refugees, obviously, and for anyone who's coming from a different country and doesn't speak English good enough. They don't get enough chance to speak, they don't get enough chance to practice. And for Ukrainians, it can take at least three years to get up to the level of English that will allow them to get a customer facing job.

So a lot of Ukrainians as a result get jobs as hotel cleaners, so going from accountants, lawyers, doctors, marketing specialist, they start working in warehouses and as hotel cleaners and they are trapped in those jobs where they don't interact in English. And basically, obviously those jobs are normally on minimum wage.

So when they are here, they don't really have a chance to do any activities, any fun activities. I think it's most Ukrainians who are displaced or come to the UK, they are women or children, as far as I remember the stats correctly.

So they have their children who also don't have much to do because again, it all comes down to money, they can't afford fun activities. And that's how I started thinking how, what can I do for these Ukrainians that would be essentially free and that would bring a smile to their face and allow them to distract themselves for a bit.

Initiating Free Walking Tours

[00:09:59] Maria Romanenko: So the first idea that I came up with was the free walking tours of Manchester for Ukrainians. And that was born out of the fact that I went to one of those walking tours myself. I think it was 2020 or something when I was visiting my partner and I had a friend from London who came over and she was like, Oh do you want to do a free walking tour of Manchester?

And at that point I was like why would I want to do that? I spent some time in Manchester, there's nothing I need to know, and how wrong I was. When I went to the first walking tour, my mind was blown how much history there is in Manchester and how interesting the city is, and I fell in love with it.

When I was in this position a couple of weeks after fleeing, I remembered that story that I went on that walking tour and I decided to reach out to this company, Free Manchester Walking Tours and offer to do a tour for Ukrainians for free where I would interpret for free, organise everything for free, find people to attend. And thankfully they were up for it very kindly.

And I thought it would be a one off tour, but we had so much demand. We had 120 people register. And then I went back to the company, to the guide saying, hi, we have 120 people registering. Is that not a bit too much? And she was like, it was Megan. Megan said probably let's stop at 120. So we had to cap that first tour and then anyone who was emailing me after that point, I had to say sorry, we're full. But I'll take down your details in case there's another tour.

Expanding the Walking Tours

[00:11:31] Maria Romanenko: And then I pitched another tour to the company and said, look, we have 70 people who are already waiting for the next tour. And obviously if I announce that there'll be more people can we do another one? And again, they were up for it. And that's how it still continues. I'm still doing this tour. I did two in the last few weeks, I did two more. And now I've done the free walking tours of Manchester for nearly 40 percent of all displaced Ukrainians in Greater Manchester area.

I did the same in Liverpool when Eurovision came to Liverpool. I figured out that there would be a lot of Ukrainians coming to Liverpool because there were all sorts of Ukrainian activities. Obviously, Eurovision was held on behalf of Ukraine. I decided to do the same thing there. And this walking tours again picked up this just unforeseen for me amount of attention from media.

When I was doing it in Manchester, it was all the national media who reported on these stories. And then when I did it in Liverpool, it was all the international media, because the journalists were there for Eurovision anyway, and they were looking for stories to report on. And it was just basically this walking tours were covered on public broadcasters in France, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Ukraine.

Recognition and Awards

[00:12:39] Maria Romanenko: And that's how I received an award from the Prime Minister, just a bit earlier before the coverage on tv. But, somebody in the government saw what I was doing. And they reached out and then decided to give me the Prime Minister's Points of Light Award which is given to volunteers, charity workers and community champions.

And there's still a lot of demand. There's even more demand now in the sense that a lot of Ukrainians who have attended one of my tours or two of my tours, they ask me if I'm doing other series, what my plans are. They're like, just tell us what you're doing. We'll come and attend. And, we're happy to travel. Just tell us what you're doing. And it's just really, always really takes me aback.

I don't expect this sort of kindness from people. And that's what motivates me to do more things like that. I've also been signposting for Ukrainians. A lot of Ukrainians who come here, even on, during the tours, between the stops. They will come to me and be like, I have a question about school for my child. I have a question about how do I get a job in this field? I want to know, I need some help in my house and I need some help with this and that. They always have so many questions because everything is so new and it's not just a problem that's unique to Ukrainians, it's any person moving to a different country, a different area, new city, a new country.

But it's even more prominent, this problem is when you've not actually planned for this move. The vast majority of people in this country or in Europe will be able to relate to moving to a new area. But most of the time we are able to prepare for that move. But with Ukrainians, and even if you migrate into a different country, normally it's a decision that you thought about it, right? You prepared for it for weeks or months.

But with Ukrainians, obviously nobody prepared for the full scale invasion. And that's why when they come to the UK, it's a new country for them, new environment, they don't know anything. There's a lot of bureaucracy that comes with moving to the UK. So what I do is all is all about helping Ukrainians navigate this unforeseen changes for them.

Ongoing Efforts and Future Plans

[00:14:43] Maria Romanenko: I've also been advising local authorities and government about issues the Ukrainian refugees in the uk. And I've been doing lots of other work I've been interpreting for Ukrainians in different environments.

And we also plan for to take our work to bit of new level and basically, start doing more, register as a charity and apply for grants. So that will allow us to take it up to a new level. And basically, do what we've been told many times that Ukrainians need. It's this sort of creative way of looking at helping them.

It's like holistic, like mental health, but not really mental health in the sense that I can't provide, unfortunately, I wish I could, but I can't provide psychologists for 200, 000 Ukrainians who are in the UK. But, I can help them get out of the house, I can help them find out about the city they live in, I can give them a free activity they can do with their children, I can help them meet each other, because when they all come to a walking tour, obviously they meet each other, they talk to each other, they find out they're from the same city, for example, or that they have mutual friends.

And that's the nature, that's why I'm doing it, and all of this has been really voluntary. I was able to secure I think a grant once from the University of Manchester to do a couple of walking tours, but it's it's two walking tours from, 15 or 16 or however many I've done by this point.

So it's all been kind of voluntary work that I just do because as I said, I realised that I benefited from people's kindness and now all I can do is give back.

[00:16:21] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What are the challenges that you faced in this journey? I know there have been quite a few to probably navigate. Could you talk about some of the challenges you're facing and how you're overcoming them?

[00:16:31] Maria Romanenko: I think probably the main challenge is in the fact that I am helping out and dedicating thousands of volunteer hours in all of this. But I'm doing all of this whilst also facing very similar challenges to the people that I'm helping myself, if that makes sense.

Obviously, I do always say that I feel like I'm much more fortunate in the sense that I have somewhere to live. I have my partner here. I've been to this country, I've studied here, I speak fluent English, but I never came to the UK to work in the past, before 2022.

It was very different circumstances. When you study, obviously you just have main focus, you study and you don't need to worry about all the new sort of adult professional life challenges.

So it's probably that you try to help others, but also realise that you have your own issues that you can't really talk about much because you try to seem strong. And, that you are able to do all of this and you are able to help. And I don't want people to feel sorry for me, but there are many issues that I face myself that are connected to also the same mental health trauma and the same problems of living, coming to the UK and trying to build a new life here. So I would say it's probably the mental health challenge and and all the changes that I myself have had to go through since 2022.

[00:17:56] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thanks so much for sharing that Maria. I relate a little bit. I didn't come obviously from a war situation, but from the global pandemic. We left Saudi Arabia with literally two suitcases, which sounds like a lot compared to what you had to do in very short notice. But again, with 24 hours notice moving countries and then not having a place to stay and, taking almost 14 months to find a permanent place to stay. It is difficult. And I can imagine in a context where you hadn't planned for a travel, you hadn't planned to move countries. You can't even speak the language. It is so difficult.

[00:18:33] Maria Romanenko: You can probably relate to that as well, or you will know this from stories you heard. Because historically the UK has been such a closed off country, and it still is, that most Ukrainians wouldn't have even visited the UK for a visit as a tourist. Because they needed a visa, the visa was expensive, there were lots of criteria to get a visa that many Ukrainians didn't meet in terms of their income.

For the vast majority of Ukrainians here, it is a very new country, and things in the UK are done quite different to even mainland Europe. As I said, everybody can probably relate, as you said yourself to this difficulty of being in a new country. It's hard moving to a new country, even when you did plan it, but Ukrainians are coming without having planned it.

They come in unprepared without language skills in a lot of cases. And they are fleeing a actual violence, actual war. Many of them have gone through something like living in occupied areas, going through torture chambers that Russia set up in Ukraine, everywhere, or having their relatives, family killed, or having their husbands or family members fighting in the war. I don't want to compare people's hurdles or people's problems. Obviously, most of the time, it doesn't really make sense. Let's say Ukrainians face more problems than a typical person moving to a new country would face here.

[00:19:53] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It's amazing the work you're doing.

What would you say is some of the bigger impact that you made? Because you obviously made a lot of impact. And you're being recognised for that impact and you continue to help. Like you said, 40 percent of Ukrainians in Greater Manchester have been supported. A very big number, considering it's like you just doing this without a formal charity backing.

[00:20:16] Maria Romanenko: I think that I actually do all of this pretty much full time because it's not just the activities that I do or the conversations that I have. It's also, the Facebook message that will come through and somebody will ask me, can you help me with this or can I have a call with you? So a lot of the time, it feels like it's a full time engagement. I'm pretty much online and ready to help any time of the day.

By this point I probably put in 3,000 volunteer hours and over 1,500 displaced Ukrainians have been to my walking tours. It's more than a third of all displaced Ukrainians that are in Great Manchester. It is the helping them find out, it's helping basically them feel welcome in Manchester. So it's introducing Manchester to them, but also introducing them to Manchester, helping them meet each other, helping them get distracted, helping them do a free activity for them.

 And also a lot of Ukrainians, because we do the tours in English and Ukrainian, because I have the local guide from Manchester and then I translate what they're saying. So a lot of the Ukrainians also say that it helps them that they listen to English language and then hear my translation. And that helps a lot.

And it's again, all those questions that they ask me in the breaks between the stops. How can you help them in my house? And can you help them with my job situation? Can you help me? And obviously in most of the cases, like I can't, I wish I could, but I can't, help them find new house or whatever. But I can signpost them and tell them who can help them with that.

There is a lot of distrust among Ukrainians in authorities and government which kind of lingers on. But if they have to move to a different country, they are more likely to ask me because I'm also Ukrainian because they trust me. And if I tell them, oh, you need to ask your council, your local authority, they believe me when I say that and they are more likely to get help from their local government.

 It's the mental health help because again, as I said, distraction, socialising and things like that, but it's also signposting and helping them settle in here. And it's advocating, speaking, giving them voice because, as you might know from speaking with other refugees, a lot of them who come to the UK, they feel like they don't have a voice because they don't speak English good enough. They don't have anyone advocating for them, or they don't have many people doing that.

So when I talk to local authorities, when I talk to government representatives, when I was invited to 10 Downing Street late last year, and when I give the media interviews, I'm talking on their behalf, I'm talking about their problems. I'm talking about the help that they need. So, it's given them voice.

And I think that's very important to me. I would probably sum it up in that, the Ukrainians who stay at the end of the tour and thank me for the tour and say all the nice and kind things. That's the impact that I realise that what I do is still needed and obviously I have the numbers to back it up. It's very easy for me to see that every tour I do, it sells out. I reach the maximum capacity and there's demand for more of that work.

[00:23:18] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thanks a lot Maria and definitely you're making a huge amount of impact.

Coming to the Spirit of Manchester nomination, what does being nominated for the Spirit of Manchester award mean for you?

[00:23:30] Maria Romanenko: It's a huge honour to have been nominated. And it's even a bigger honour to have made it to the finalist list. Quite hard because obviously a lot of people in charity sectors or in community work, they work as part of a big team. They have funding for their work if it's like a big recognisable charity.

They have funding, they have a team, they have a whole structure that everything that's worked for many years. But a lot of the times, it can feel quite lonely for me in the sense that I don't have, at least at the moment, maybe in the future if I do get the charity status, but at the moment I don't have all of that support.

 It's trying to do similar kind of work, but on my own or with support of my partner and getting recognised for this volunteering means a huge deal to me. So I'm very grateful because I don't do it for the awards or anything like that. But I'm very glad that my work gets noticed and recognised because it's another opportunity to talk about Ukraine and talk about Ukrainians.

Because every time I'm given a platform, I do all of this only so that I can still keep Ukraine in the headlines. Talk about the issues that are faced by Ukrainians, and it all comes down to that. It's another chance to show the world that the war is far from over. There's still cities being razed to ground, cities being destroyed, people being killed, tortured in Ukraine. And people when they come to the UK, they seek a safe refuge here and we need to be sympathetic towards them.

We need to see what we can do to help, because ultimately, happier Ukrainians in the UK. will be able to contribute to the UK as a country, to the UK economy much better than if we just throw them in the deep waters and let them figure it out themselves. So I think it's a win situation. And for me, as I said getting nominated for awards is another chance to cry and talk about the help that Ukraine needs.

[00:25:36] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Absolutely, and I hope this podcast helps in a small way as well to spread the message to people.

Advice and Reflections

[00:25:43] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What advice do you have for people looking to start a similar movement in their local community? If they want to support Ukrainian refugees, how do they start?

[00:25:52] Maria Romanenko: I think with everything that I do, I think it's don't be afraid to come up with ridiculous ideas. And don't be scared to aim too high, because the first idea with the walking tours was just a random what if I should ask. And I was very lucky that was picked up by Free Manchester Walking Tours, and then the Liverpool Walking Tours. I was just like, oh, this is probably a ridiculous idea, and I pitched it to my partner just to hear his opinion, and he was like, yeah, why not? Try it out.

And a lot of these things, when I just come up with them, it just seems ridiculous. But then, when I pitched it, talk to other people about it and they say, that sounds good. I realised that actually there might be something there.

The second advice I would say learn about partnership because as I said, I wish I could do A, B, C, D, to help Ukrainians. But in reality, in at least 80 percent of cases, probably more, it's all about partnership and knowing which people can help and asking them for help and doing something together with them.

Because I'm always very wary of coming across as unprofessional. So I don't try to do tasks that I know I'm not qualified to do, but I can find people who are qualified to do them and do something in partnership with them.

And then don't lose hope if you get rejected or ignored, because I've been rejected and ignored many times. The things that people see is the awards or the interviews or the recognition that somebody gets, but they don't see the many hours of work that went into it and many rejections that people received before they got to that point.

Get emotional support circles, so try and find anyone at all who will be there to help you emotionally. Be more professional, as I said if it takes partnering, partner up with other people. Just be professional in your service or in any volunteering that you do.

Learn how to ask for help, learn how to structure an email, learn how to structure a conversation. Because the last thing that somebody needs is to listen to something for a very long time and then at the end of it still not really understand what you're asking for. So you need to, when you are partnering, when you're asking somebody regardless if it's for a grant or any other help, you need to be very concise and clear what it is that you're asking for and why they should give you that help.

[00:28:07] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is great advice. And I think very useful for people looking to support any kind of community.

I'm going to move to my signature questions that I asked all my guests.

And the first one is if you could choose a famous landmark in Manchester to represent you, which one would it be and why? Maybe something from the walking tour, because I've done it too, and it's quite a good one.

[00:28:29] Maria Romanenko: The thing is, there's so many great landmarks in Manchester because Manchester has so much history. And so many important firsts and things, and it's all fantastic, but I feel like if I start comparing myself to that, it's like thinking of myself, it's not very modest.

But I obviously very much admire the suffragette history of Manchester, and the great women of Manchester who, unfortunately, for many decades weren't properly recognised. Because, the first monument to a woman in Manchester, apart from somebody from a royal family, was only erected six years ago to Emmeline Pankhurst.

It was to celebrate a project called Womanchester and to celebrate 100 years since receiving the right to vote in elections. And so I would very much, if I can do at least like 1 percent of what Emmeline Pankhurst and her fellow suffragette movement members did, then, I'd be very happy with what I've achieved.

[00:29:29] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Emmeline Pankhurst's monument is just outside my new office, St. Peter's Square, and I see it every day, and it is definitely very inspiring. I didn't know it's only six years old. Wow. That is interesting to know.

What's the most important life lesson you've learned so far?

[00:29:45] Maria Romanenko: Oh I'm still learning it, but it's not to get down when something doesn't work. Or it doesn't work out the way I hoped that it would but I'm still learning it, unfortunately. But it's a very important lesson because I and probably a lot of people give up very easily or, feel down very easily. So it's that one, but hopefully I can learn it at some point properly, but I am trying to do my best.

[00:30:10] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That resilience, that ability to bounce back because life happens, doesn't it? And you do need to pick yourself up and move on, move forward.

 How can people get in touch with you?

[00:30:21] Maria Romanenko: I'm probably still most active on Twitter, so that's at r o m m. A RI or just search for Maria Romanenko, I'm sure you'll find me and or my email address maria@mariaromanenko.com. Obviously if another social media platform works better for you, people can also reach out to me there, but I'm most active either through email or Twitter.

[00:30:47] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Maria. This has been a real pleasure. Thank you for taking the time.

[00:30:51] Maria Romanenko: Thank you so much for having me, Deepa.

Outro

Thank you for listening to the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. I hope today's episode has inspired you to reflect on your own purpose and how you can contribute to making positive change.

I'm truly grateful for this amazing community of listeners. Your stories inspire this podcast, and I look forward to hearing more of them. If you'd like to share your story or connect, visit my website at www.meetthemancunian.co.uk. or find me on social media@MeettheMancunian on Instagram and Facebook,@MancunianPod on Twitter or X and @Meett heMancunianpodcast on YouTube.

Thank you again to my wonderful listeners you inspire me. Together, we're a community dedicated to uplifting Manchester and supporting Mancunians.

Thank you for tuning in and being a part of this incredible community. Your involvement helps amplify the voices of those making a difference. Together, we can inspire even more positive change in Manchester and beyond.

Remember, no act of kindness is too small, and by working together we can truly make a meaningful impact.

Thank you for listening.