Ukrainians Make Harborough Their Home

My favourite places in Harborough are the theatre, the beautiful flowers around the town and the library, which is amazing.

When we see British people learning about Ukrainian culture we are touched. We feel our culture is emerging and the veil erected by Russia that has been hiding us from the world is dropping.

One of my favourite places is the library of course, so nice and comfortable with an excellent collection of books and very friendly personnel.

On February 24^th 2022 Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, this led to millions of Ukrainians being forced to flee their homes. As soon as the government announced its ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme the people of Market Harborough sprang into action. Harborough and the surrounding villages now host the highest number of Ukrainian refugees in Leicestershire. Like so many parts of the community, the Participation Team working with Harborough Museum and Library have been involved in supporting Ukrainians as they rebuild their lives here.

Our Library and Museum Welcome

Market Harborough Library has a good selection of Ukrainian language books for adults and children, as well as staff who are patient and kind in helping people join. We have been introducing Ukrainians to our library and museum to support their integration. Alongside this we have been co-ordinating a project to explore and share the unique Ukrainian heritage using our culture spaces as the catalyst. Their stories and objects, alongside the experience of the extraordinary host families, will be shared in the We Are Harborough exhibition which opens in March 2023.

Our Exhibition

Working with Bethia and Alison from ‘UP’, a local social enterprise, we have enjoyed learning about Ukrainian culture and are proud to share the outcome of this work as art of the We Are Harborough exhibition. We have employed Ukrainian translators, Ukrainian photographers and Ukrainian artists to support us to tell the stories of how normal lives were upended overnight and ordinary people found themselves refugees in a foreign country. We have also explored how Market Harborough has changed because of this.

If you would like to find out more about out more about our work with the Ukrainian community please contact helen.murray@leics.gov.uk.