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Removed
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This charity was removed from the register on 19 Jul 2022
Public benefits
The main purpose of our activities at the Polish Saturday School Ballymena is to facilitate integration of the Polish minority with the local community. In order to enable this we do focus in the first place on bringing the Poles together to celebrate various occasions like the national holidays. These are perfect opportunities for us to reveal to
the locals basic facts about our history and tradition. Our experience shows that these encounters always spark inspiring conversations as the locals are prompt to tell us in exchange facts about Northern Ireland from the given century or facts similar in another way. This is how we can best learn about each other. PSSBallymena is the only Polish organization in the area and thus we feel responsible in general for the Poles living here and we are also serious about integration with all components of our multicultural community. This project has an enormous role to play and is really important as far as the Polish people are concerned. It offers a platform for dialogue with others which should under no circumstances be overlooked. The school is already established in people's minds as the place where everyone is welcomed regardless of their background. The attacks that do unfortunately occur every now and then mean that our initiatives are needed and even more emphasis should be placed on integration amongst all the various groups that form our local community. We are determined to come across as proud, but also peace- and freedom-loving people. There is a lot that we can show to our guests that will prove this point. Despite the distance that separates our countries, we are keen discover the numerous similarities which are more common that one could superficially presume. Nothing can integrate us better than a gathering at the Polish Saturday School where we sometimes manage to successfully host few hundred people and most importantly, a great deal of that are children that will shape our future. Public Benefits of PSSBallymena • Ensuring between the Polish community and local residents. • Providing platforms for intercultural enjoyment. • Reducing the isolation of Polish residents in the community, hence ensuring a more confident integration. • Connectivity with local schools by preparing Polish children with a level of education which would allow them to be educated with their peer age groups hence creating a smoother integration. • Creating mutual cultural awareness through community and church interaction and events.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
Polish Saturday School Ballymena is an organization that brings together, week in and week out, 120 children in order to enable them to discover Polish language, history, geography and tradition. They also have a chance to participate in additional classes that include folk dance, football, theatre and art. Our intention is to cover as widely as
possible the interests of our pupils that are keen to discover their homeland. It is important for every child to understand the background it comes from. It is equally important for the people around them to be able to discover and appreciate that too. The more we are able to learn about each other the easier for us it is to live together and work towards a brighter future for the community in general. The schools also facilitates the possibility for some children to continue education in Poland without dropping too much behind their peers should their parents decide to return to Poland at some point. And for those who do not share this intention, the school offers the best way to understand the various components that shape one’s identity and to subsequently share and explain this knowledge to their friends from the local community. Understanding of differences and discovering the things in common are best facilitators of dialogue that is key to a successful integration. It is becoming a shared idea of everyone who had a chance to visit us at the school. We offer knowledge, wisdom, friendships and thus widely understood sense of belonging. PSSBallymena offers integration that is based on regular encounters with representatives of the local community during various events and workshops that promote Poland.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of citizenship or community development
- The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
Who the charity helps
- Children (5-13 year olds)
- Ethnic minorities
- Language community
- Parents
- Preschool (0-5 year olds)
- Youth (14-25 year olds)
How the charity works
- Arts
- Community development
- Cultural
- Education/training
- Religious activities
- Sport/recreation
- Youth development
Charitable purposes
3. OBJECTS 3.1 The School is established to promote and advance education and to provide and promote leisure, social and recreational activities and facilities for children and young people, in particular but not exclusively those of Polish origin and descent, aged between 2 and 17 years old (“hereinafter called the beneficiaries”) who are resident in the Ballymena area and its environs of County Antrim and County Londonderry, Northern Ireland (hereinafter called the “area of benefit”) without distinction of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic identity, political or religious opinion, by associating the statutory authorities, community and voluntary organisations and the inhabitants in a common effort to advance education and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure-time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said beneficiaries and in particular: (a) to promote and advance education in all matters relating to the Polish Language, Polish Affairs, History, Geography, Arts, Crafts and Polish Cultural Heritage together with the welfare and social interaction of the Polish community in the area of benefit; to establish and maintain or co-operate with any local education authority or statutory body in the maintenance of a supplementary school for the provision of out of school hours educational and recreational facilities in the interests of social welfare for children and young people aged 2 to 17; to foster an atmosphere of mutual support among parents of Polish children and encourage the provision of mutual support and encouragement among such parents and their children; (d) to advance any other exclusively charitable purpose as the School Board, may from time to time, decide in accordance with the law of charity.