HANA kicks off its World Cup Final on Bank Holiday weekend

HANA, which is located on Portland Street in Hull, promotes and supports the wellbeing of the BAMER community (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee).

Made up of over 60 community groups from around the world, its inspiring work strives to help these people to understand the UK way of life, as well as raise awareness and benefits of multicultural societies.

“HANA works with those who have come to live in Hull,” explains Ismael Ahmad, Community Development Worker. “Providing services, support, advocacy and representation to migrant communities, we work with people from Africa, Bulgaria, China, India, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia.”

Aside from their yearly World Cup competition, HANA also organises a variety of cultural activities, where individuals and families can come together to share music, dance and traditions. Each event strives to encourage the people of Hull to come together, create bonds and friendship, and celebrate the vibrancy of the city.

“Migrants come to Hull for a variety of reasons. A lot of the individuals and families we work with are refugees and asylum seekers, but not all of them are.”

The alliance promotes the integration of these groups into the broader community of Hull: “This is achieved via our various projects, many of which are set up by our clients. You can see a full list of them on our website; a lot of them centre around social and health problems, as well as housing issues.”

A good example of a client-led programme is the Eastern European Project. Set up as a response to the increase in the number of migrants from this area coming into the UK, the project helps people to access much-needed support, engage with the wider community and gain insight into local law.

On top of this, HANA will signpost its beneficiaries to local and national agencies, such as the NHS, city council, educational institutions and even the police.

The World Cup is to take place at the University of Hull’s Sports and Fitness Centre on Saturday 5 May. Over thirty teams are to take part in the competition, with hundreds of people expected to join in with the friendly spirit to support their players.

Aside from the matches, there will be tasty food on offer, music from around the world and opportunities to dance, laugh and have a good time.

The event is completely free to attend, making it a brilliant day out for the whole family and a wonderful chance to try something new.

To find out more information about Humber All Nations Alliance and their World Cup Final event, please visit the HANA website.