In partnership with KaskoSan Roma charity and the University of Salford, Oldham Coliseum Theatre is working with the local Roma community in Oldham on a long-term project explore how taking part in cultural activities can enhance wellbeing and sense of belonging.

A group of Roma women now meeting regularly with the Coliseum’s Roma Key Worker Maria Palmai are leading on the aims and outcomes of the project. Sharing their culture, on Wednesday 8 December the group hosted their first public event which they described as “our first steps ever taken in the UK mainstream world”, with traditional Roma food, stories and evangelical festive songs.

Alongside the creative aims of the project the Roma Connections group are supporting local Roma families. Recent weeks have seen the collection and distribution of warm clothing donations and wrapping 170 Christmas presents for children.

The roots of the Roma Connections project formed five years ago with the late Zerg Raja, a regular collaborator with the theatre’s Learning and Engagement team. Zerg was passionate about communities and had also built a relationship with the Romanian Roma community in Oldham’s Clarksfield borough, joining the board of KaskoSan. The project also comprises a children and young people strand working in Greenacres School and Waterhead Academy.

The Roma Connections project is funded by The Ideas Fund. Delivered by the British Science Association (BSA) and funded by Wellcome, the Ideas Fund supports the BSA’s belief that science is about ideas that can and should come from anywhere and Wellcome’s commitment to funding ideas that empower people, lead to better research and enable science to solve urgent health challenges.  Reaching individuals and groups who have been overlooked by health research in the past is a key aim of the fund, particularly in rural or minority ethnic communities, amongst the young, marginalised and socioeconomically disadvantaged people. Oldham Coliseum Theatre is one of 42 recipients of The Ideas Fund in 2021, nine of which are based in Oldham.