Summer Club 2026 will go down as our most innovative and multi-cultural yet.In its fourth year we decided to invite expressions of interest from young people wishing to help roll out the summer programme. We received dozens of applications which we had to whittle down to six.

The lucky six (under the guidance of youth leader Cara Gilliland) were then handed the Summer Club and told to take forward – organising everything from the activities to the venues to the menus.

And what a success it turned out to be.

Over six weeks, from July 7 to August 13, almost 60 children enjoyed activities including cookery, wall climbing, circus skills, trips to the bowling alley and cinema and outdoor excursions to Brooke Park and Lake Kilrea. There was also a greater cultural element to the programme than in previous years thanks to facilitators like Doaa Ahmed who brought a distinctly Palestinian vibe to the North West Migrants Forum and Donna Nolongu whose Ugandan food and dancing went down a storm.

What added to the uniqueness of Summer Club 2026 was our intercultural café which opened just in time for the school break. It allowed participants to have their own space without having to worry about interrupting the day-to-day running of the Migrants Forum.

The end of the six weeks was marked with a presentation night when certificates and awards were handed out to every single young person who took part, our way of congratulating them on their energy, enthusiasm and approach to each day they were with us.

Once again we want to thank our principal funder, the Co-Op Foundation, without whom there would be no Summer Club. And we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated, who volunteered and who delivered a brilliant programme.

Also a word of thanks to the parents who entrusted their children to us. It is a duty we never take for granted.

Onward to Summer Club 2027!

KEEPING within the spirit of ‘doing things differently this year’, we marked the end of our Summer Club with a special presentation evening.

On Friday August 14 around 100 parents and children gathered in our ‘People’s Café’ to see certificates handed out to every child who participated in Summer Club 2026.

Awards, handcrafted by Martin Gallen of Banba Design, were presented across more than two dozen categories, including Best Listener, Chief Chef and Great Encourager.

The recipients of these awards were chosen by their peers and by parents who voted through a registration process set up by NWMF.

There were lots of smiles, hugs and high fives as each award winner was called to collect their prize.

It was an immensely fun event with entertainment from the tireless Donna Nalongo who had everyone on their feet for a Ugandan dance and singsong. 

There were also foods from Morocco, Sudan and Nigeria with hardly a bite left after everyone had filled their plates.

Well done to everyone who participated in Summer Club 2026, we hope you had as good a time as we did.

See you all next year!

We returned to Derry’s Brooke Park on July 18 for our annual Family Fun Day.
And what it a day it turned out to be!

The sun did its best for us, fighting its way through the clouds to make intermittent appearances.

The crowds had no such problems, turning out and shining in their hundreds to make it another truly memorable afternoon.

From 1pm to 4pm families, individuals and children arrived to enjoy bouncy castles, arts and crafts and face painting. Parky the Magician was also back with his special brand of chicanery and laughs while In Your Space Circus joined us to teach young people an array of colourful skills.

And of course, it wouldn’t have been a Family Fun Day without burgers and hot dogs on the barbecue.

Everyone had a blast, showing once again what can be achieved when people come together with a collective goal – to relax, chat and set their worries aside, for a few hours at least.

June 20 2026 was a historic day for the North  West Migrants Forum, the day we opened the doors to our Intercultural Café.

Supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), the café is designed as a place where people seeking asylum, those granted international protection, migrant and diaspora communities and those from racialised minoritised backgrounds can come together and engage with one another and the broader community.

As well as a comfortable meeting place, the café boasts laundry facilities and a fully operational training kitchen designed to equip individuals with the skills to volunteer in the community and potentially secure employment in the hospitality industry.

The launch was attended by around 60 people, including Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Grace Uí Niallais. Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Geraldine McGahey, was also in the room, as was Chief Executive of Derry and Strabane Council, John Kelpie. Representatives from several key statutory agencies also took time out of their Saturday mornings to be there.

Addressing those gathered, our Chief Executive, Lilian Seenoi Barr, said, “The People’s Café is open to all residents of Derry City and Strabane District and beyond. It is not limited to racially minoritised communities.

“We will be holding a range of thematic events throughout the year and everyone is welcome to attend. These events will provide opportunities for residents to meet, connect with and learn from racially minoritised communities, helping to build stronger relationships, encourage dialogue and promote greater understanding across communities.”

Mrs Barr added that her aim has always been to promote the positive contributions migrants make to society when given the chance to thrive. In that respect, the café is a “dream come true”.

“Hopefully The People’s Café will showcase how much migrants have to give, economically, socially and culturally. And hopefully it will underscore the enormous value they bring when given the opportunity to prosper.

You can read the full press release in our news section.

Following her arrival in Derry on May 29 2026, Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw was greeted by Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Ruaíri McHugh who bestowed on her a mayoral gift. From the Mayor’s Parlour, Professor Crenshaw walked the short distance to North West Migrants Forum where more than a dozen women gathered to discuss issues such as violence against women, intersectionality and critical race theory. Lunch was also provided with foods from Iran and Sudan being served.

Derry’s Guildhall was packed to capacity on Friday evening, May 29, for a visit by eminent American civil rights scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw.

Professor Crenshaw added the city to her European book tour following an invitation by North West Migrants Chief Executive Lilian Seenoi Barr.

The two women struck up a friendship during a visit in 2024 by Councillor Barr to the USA as part of her year as Mayor of Derry and Strabane.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, a distinguished professor of law at both UCLA School of Law in California and Columbia Law School in New York, is one of the most influential thinkers in America.

Following the publication of Backtalker, Ms Crenshaw’s hotly anticipated memoir, she embarked on an American and then European tour with engagements in France, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Derry.

On Friday, May 22, the North West Migrants Forum, in collaboration with the North West Regional College, participated in a busy day of multiculturalism.

The Black History and Cultural Diversity Activity formed part of our Intercultural Cross-border Inclusion Programme, supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

In terms of our offering on the day, we invited three of our members to cook foods of the world, with the dozens of people who visited North West Regional College being treated to Sudanese aubergine toasties, Somali rice chicken, Nigerian spring rolls and Sudanese cucumber salad.

Our Ukranian members got involved with a very interesting doll making workshop while we rounded the afternoon off with a session of African drumming.

This was a great event for us, one which enabled us to get information on our work and on our ICI Programme out in a fun and interactive manner.

OVER 100 people gathered in Cultúrlann on May 21 2026 for ‘Integration Craic’, a family-orientated evening of fun, food and friendship.
Integration Craic was organised to coincide with World Diversity Day and saw the North West Migrants Forum and Sole Purpose Productions invite members of the public to join them for a unique celebration of culture, music and connection.
Performers from a number of countries tuned up to take part in ‘Integration Craic – Connecting Cultures, Creating Community’ which aimed to bring people together and open them up to a deeper understanding of the value of cultural diversity.
Now in its 23 rd year, World Day for Cultural Diversity encourages individuals, institutions and organisations to take action in support of diversity, inclusion and intercultural dialogue. Responsible for organising Integration Craic was the North West Migrants Forum’s Welfare and Integration Officer Gaëlle Gormley.
She said the aim was to build relations between Northern Ireland’s two traditional communities and those from overseas who have made the north west their home in recent times.
Ms Gormley added that the 2026 event was of added importance, given the unprecedented levels of hostility being directed at migrants across Northern Ireland and beyond.
“At a time when the atmosphere in the UK, Ireland and other European countries is becoming increasingly hostile towards migrants, especially refugees, it is more important than ever to bring local people and minoritised communities together for a friendly, welcoming and fun event.
“Refugees are often demonised and many false narratives are spread on social media. We aim to debunk these stereotypes by showing that we can live together in peace, create bonds, connect cultures and build a unified community,” Gaëlle Gormley said.

The ICI Programme was developed by drawing on existing learning from organisations working to combat racism, prejudice and hate throughout communities and society on both sides of the border.
The programme will also upskill people with lived experience of racism and hate and will work specifically with community leaders, policy makers, teachers and school pupils to address the misunderstandings and prejudices causing division within our society and communities.

We held our annual Christmas party in NWMF’s offices on December 10 2025. Why did we make the conscious decision to have it on International Human Rights Day? Well while the lights twinkle and little faces light up, Christmas isn’t always the happiest of occasions for our members, the majority of whom are far from their family and loved ones.

We do our best to cheer them up by providing food, music and a place where they can get together and talk and laugh. This year was no exception with upwards of 75 people joining us for a what was a lovely, joy-filled evening, made all the more special by the appearance of Santa Claus who handed out presents to all the children. We hope everyone enjoyed attending as much as we did preparing the food and the gifts.

All being well, we will do it all again next year!

Twenty of our members enjoyed an overnight stay at the Waterfoot Hotel on Friday November 15 and 16 2024 as part of a women-only residential funded by Bank of Ireland.

During their break away the women enjoyed a relaxing Myofascial Release class delivered by Louise Carey and Laurie Schneider at Embodied Pilates Studio.

After an early night, Saturday began with a highly informative workshop from Clare McLaughlin and Mary Crumley of Derry Credit Union Limited while in the afternoon, Michelle Major from The Sunshine Project delivered a fantastic programme focused on women’s mental health.

The feedback from the residential was brilliant with participants describing it as an interesting, relaxing, informative and helpful experience.

ON October 24 2025 we gathered in The Great Hall of Ulster University’s Magee campus for our fifth annual Black History Summit.

As in previous years, it was a fabulous day of discussion followed by a musical fusion where Kenya met Ireland in the form of Maasai singer Nelson Ngotiek and Irish star Ritchie Remo.

Our guest speakers on the day included Zita Holbourne who travelled from England to be with us. As well as being a writer, multi-award-winning artist, educator, community activist and trade union leader, Zita has done momentous work in exposing the Windrush Scandal.

Joining her on the podium was Lisa Williams, founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association. Ms Williams curates education programmes, arts events and walking tours to promote awareness of Black Scottish history and links between Scotland and the Caribbean.

Rajvi Glasbrook, senior implementation manager for the Welsh Government Anti-racist Wales Action Plan, also addressed the Summit. Rajvi worked on the ‘Cynefin’ report which made the teaching of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories mandatory in the Curriculum for Wales.

The event was moderated by Lilian Seenoi Barr, Chief Executive of the North West Migrants Forum, while the panellists included Dr Naomi Green, one of the researchers on our Black Heritage NI: Hidden History Project, Ulster University researcher Seun Awonuga and Daniel Sanusi, organiser of Ulster University Students’ Union’s first-ever Black History Month.

Closing remarks were by author and activist Chantelle Lunt, also a researcher on our Hidden History Project.

We want to put on record our thanks to everyone who contributed to make the event a success and to National Lottery’s Heritage Fund, British Council, Ulster University and Housing Executive for their support.