Welcoming Cultures UK

08/06/2026

📘 Proud to share the launch of the ODIHR Handbook on Advocating for the Human Rights of Roma and Sinti Women.

I was honoured to be one of the authors of this publication, developed alongside Ajla van Heel Merdanovic, with the guidance and support of Natalia Duminica and the ODIHR Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues team.

The handbook was developed in response to ODIHR’s 2024 Needs Assessment of Roma and Sinti Women’s Organisations and Activists and provides practical tools to strengthen advocacy, participation and policy influence.

The launch brought together 18 Roma and Sinti women leaders, activists and experts from 11 countries, creating a powerful space for dialogue, learning and collaboration.

Launching this publication during Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month feels particularly meaningful. I hope it becomes a useful resource for Roma and Sinti women’s organisations, civil society, institutions and allies working towards equality and human rights.

📖 Handbook: https://odihr.osce.org/odihr/663589

Advocacy GRTHistoryMonth GenderEquality

22/05/2026

Cultural day at Manor Lodge primary ❤️👏🏾

07/05/2026

Vote Labour Today — Thursday 7 May

Real Hope. Real Change.

Polling stations across Sheffield are open from 7am until 10pm today.

Please remember to:

* Bring your valid photo ID
* Vote at your designated polling station
* Postal votes can be handed in at any polling station in Sheffield

Every vote matters.

Across Sheffield, Green Party candidates are standing in:

* Ecclesall, Greystones, Broomhill & Sharrow Vale
* Gleadless Valley and Heeley
* City Ward
* Nether Edge & Sharrow
* Burngreave
* Hillsborough
* South West Sheffield
* Manor Castle
* Walkley
* Crookes and Crosspool

Vote for the future you want to see in our city

Vote Labour today.

05/05/2026

05/05/2026

This week and last week I’ve been out across Kelham Island, the Wicker and Highfield — leafleting, speaking in different languages 🙂 with local residents and meeting local business owners.

These conversations matter.

We spoke honestly about the challenges people are facing — from homelessness and vulnerability, to lack of access to employment, training and education, and the gaps that still leave many feeling unheard at the Wicker.

But I also saw something powerful.
The big community suport offered by and Sadacca and many other local businesses.

I met incredible people from our diverse communities who have built businesses, created opportunities and continue to contribute so much to our city.
The welcome I received everywhere I went meant a lot and it made me feel a winner already. Thank you🙏🏽.

Our communities are strong.
But they deserve better support, better access, and a stronger voice.

From Kelham Island to the Wicker, and through to Highfield — I will continue listening, standing up, and working for you.

Terezia Rostas for a stronger, fairer City Ward.

27/04/2026

We are pleased to announce that we are recruiting 4 Community Mental Health Champions for the North Smiles Project in North Sheffield.

This project is delivered by Care for Young People’s Future CIC in partnership with Welcoming Cultures, and funded through the This Is Us North programme, supported by SOAR and partners.

We are looking to recruit one champion from each area: Burngreave, Page Hall, Firth Park and Shiregreen, with a strong focus on people from BAME and Roma communities. We particularly welcome applications from individuals who speak community languages such as Yemeni, Urdu, Arabic, Somali, Roma, Eastern European languages, or others.

This is a paid opportunity for individuals with lived experience, passion for supporting others, and an interest in mental health and wellbeing.

As part of the role, champions will:

* Receive FREE accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA England) training
* Be supported to co-deliver culturally relevant mental health and wellbeing sessions
* Help engage and support their local communities
* Contribute to co-producing resources that reflect real community needs
* Take part in a wider programme reaching over 100 professionals and community members

Pay:

* £20 per hour (freelance)
* £15 per hour (payroll option)

Commitment:
Minimum of 6 paid full days (or equivalent) across the year, with further opportunities for involvement, training and development.

How to apply:
Send your CV and a short cover letter, or a 2–3 minute video introducing yourself and your interest, to:
[email protected]

For more information, contact Terezia Rostas.

Deadline: 10th May 2025
Shortlisting and interviews will take place the week after.

13/04/2026

It’s official — I’m standing to be your councillor for City Ward in Sheffield.

Last week, I submitted my nomination, and it was an emotional moment.

This journey represents over 15 years of working alongside families across Sheffield — supporting people through education, employment, and health challenges.

I’m not new to this work — I’ve been doing it for years.
Now I want to bring that experience into the council and make sure your voice is heard.

See my pledges in the leaflet
Join me in building a stronger, fairer City Ward

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing daily updates about the work I’ve done and the difference I want to bring as a councillor — not just as a candidate, but as a community leader and human rights advocate.

If you’d like to support the campaign — whether by volunteering, sharing posts, or simply having a conversation — please get in touch. Every bit of support matters.

On 7th May — every vote counts.

I’m really proud to be standing as the Labour candidate for City Ward in Sheffield.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far — Mike Buckley, Ruby, Derek, Fran Belbin,Tom Hunt , Zahira Naz Joanna Asia Wala and many more , also , our MP Mohamed.

13/04/2026

We are now in our third year of delivery — and our project supporting Roma, Eastern European and BAME communities into employment, education and training has been extended for another year 💛

Funded by

This work is about more than jobs.
It’s about hope, purpose and fresh starts.

Every person we support has their own journey —
and every step forward is a life-changing moment.

A key reminder from the conference:
connection matters — building trust, staying in touch, and working together to move people forward.

Grateful for our partners, our community, and the trust people place in us.

We keep going 💫

CommunityImpact EmploymentSupport Inclusion Roma BAME Hope ChangingLives .cic

10/12/2025

Human Rights Day

Human rights begin with dignity, but they are fulfilled through action, accountability, and systemic change.

This year, more than ever, our work has centred on human rights education, training, and meaningful participation, grounded in the principle of human dignity.
We have worked alongside and engaged with key human rights institutions and spaces, including the United Nations Nations, CSW, Geneva Peace Week, the Council of Europe,OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) , Race Equality networks, and others.

Through advocacy projects, we have focused on gender equality, domestic abuse, human rights awareness, climate justice, and refugee rights, delivering training particularly with Roma women’s organisations and wider Black and minoritised communities. A central part of this work has been showing how international human rights law is transformative — not a self-contained or symbolic regime, but one that actively reshapes domestic law, institutions, and lived realities when properly applied.

We have consistently highlighted the difference between formal, general human rights narratives and international human rights standards that demand substantive outcomes, accountability, and structural change. Lived experience, therefore, must inform how rights are interpreted, implemented, and enforced.

This year also marked my return to higher education completing an LLM in Global Human Rights and Social Justice at Sheffield Hallam University strengthening my legal foundations as I prepare to qualify as a human rights barrister.

My aim is to support those most in need of justice and to influence justice institutions to move beyond formal compliance towards substantive law — law that genuinely protects dignity, equality, and human lives.

10/12/2025

Our 3rd Mental Health First Aid cohort has been fully booked and completed.
16 BAME community members are now qualified Mental Health First Aiders — helping reduce mental health inequalities in our communities.

This week we brought together people from Roma, Somali, South Asian, Arabic, Eastern European and English backgrounds — a true reflection of Sheffield’s diversity.

A year ago, asked me if I could help deliver free MHFA training through Care for Young People’s Future. I said yes, and also asked a bigger question: how do we make this sustainable, local and community-led?

This year, I qualified as an MHFA England Instructor, and together through Care for Young People’s Future CIC and Welcoming Cultures UK, we’ve now delivered MHFA to three cohorts across North Sheffield.

Thanks to the This Is Us North grant, this work will now continue through our new project, North Smiles — training four Community Mental Health Champions from BAME communities and co-creating culturally relevant mental health and wellbeing workshops.

📍Over the next year we’ll reach 100+ professionals and community members across North Sheffield.

If your organisation would like MHFA training or culturally informed wellbeing sessions, get in touch via Care for Young People’s Future.