Wednesday, 22nd February was a very special day which we were pleased to have shared.  It was great to see lots of Asylum seeking and Refugee women joining this trip along with their family members with such excitement and big smiles on their faces. Despite the bad weather, we still had 69 people, inclusive of children of all ages, in the coach to Cardiff. Two more families joined us in Cardiff, as they  were already there.

Our first stop was the National Assembly building, Senedd; one of the most beautiful, ecological buildings in Wales with a stunning scenery across Cardiff Bay. The architecture of the building is amazing and the Guided Tour was very impressive.  Gareth, our lovely Tour Guide was brilliant, and he was fun and interactive and managed to answer all our questions. The Tour allowed us to find out how democracy in Wales works. This is such a great way to integrate with society.

Some of the ladies with smaller children went to the beautiful Millennium Centre instead. They joined the fun doing some arts and crafts event there so their children could run around after being on the bus.

After a short break we all went to ‘Techniquest’, a Welsh science and discovery centre. The kids thoroughly enjoyed all the Interactive Science activities and Games even though it was busy during the February half term break.  We spent just over three hours in Techniquest and left Cardiff around 4.30pm.

For some of the families, it was the first time ever they have been outside of Swansea as the whole family. One person had mentioned us that it was the first time in five years they had been on a trip with others. The feedback we received reflects how successful it was.

To quote some comments from our lovely ladies;

“This was perfect for us.” -Moghadesh

“We really have fun thanks everyone who makes this trip possible” Oduah

“Big Thanks to all who involved to arrange this trip, we had fun and got useful information about assembly.”  -Naseem

“We thoroughly enjoyed the time at Techniquest; not only children of all ages but this definitely is one of the places where adults also have a lot to learn from. Senedd visit is commendable too; the place where every resident of Wales should visit at least once, to understand the value of living in Wales and to reflect on own role of being in Wales. Undoubtedly we all feel proud and blessed of being in Swansea, Wales.” – Gulnar