20/10/2026
Happy Philippine-British Friendship Day!
With support from Voices Gloucester, we began We Are Here: Stories of Belonging-Filipino Journeys to Gloucestershire on Philippine-British Friendship Day in 2025. We marked the start by sharing Filipino food at Smiles Café.
Over the past year, we’ve shared stories and experiences of building a life in Gloucestershire. Ross Campbell captured a video about our journeys, which we’ll show at our next Christmas party. We also celebrated Filipino Heritage Day in Kings Square, alongside Rotary Club of Gloucester’s Silent Disco, supported by Together Gloucester funding.
Today, on Philippine-British Friendship Day 2026, we brought the project to a close by watching Forgotten Island at Cineworld. Afterwards, we shared tapas at Portivo Lounge and talked about the film and our own journeys.
The film’s Filipino references resonated with us. As one person said, “It really related to us, of course.” Another said, “I love all the Filipino references.” We talked about representation, too: “I like how Filipino is finally represented… So finally, we’re included.” As one of us put it, “it’s great that we get representation.”
The film also brought back memories of childhood: “It brings back childhood, the scene, the classroom, the friends playing with friends, and how traditional Filipinos live.” The story of friendship moved one of us, who said, “Towards the end… just like a story of friendship, makes me cry.”
We recommend watching Forgotten Island. We also talked about the Filipino culture we share through activities and events in Gloucester. Thank you to Voices Gloucester and everyone who shared their time and stories with us.
