“Meet the Lithuanian Community in Hull – a young and vibrant community which wants to meet all other communities and share their joy together. Since it was established in 2014, Lithuanian Community in Hull was very busy. Its founder, Darius Kirtiklis, has built this community on the fundamentals of tolerance, inclusion, respect and sharing and we now want everyone else to hear about our victories.

Our strength comes from our volunteers, especially young ones. People of all ages from all over the city come and join the activities to help with organising them, as well as keep the spirits high and have a whale of a time. We have a Saturday school that takes place every weekend and we bring children of Lithuanian background to improve language skills, study culture, history, as well as have fun. No day goes by without our teachers coming up with something interesting to show to pupils and parents, so the school gets to have Christmas, Easter celebrations, Summer sports events, interesting speakers (like policemen in a cool van) and cultural events.

Other volunteers also keep themselves active. One of the first activities we started was a basketball team for ladies and gents. We also get involved in local promotions or events (e.g. to save Newland school for local residents). If you are from Newland, you may have seen us promoting Christmas Window action. Fourth year in a row we are inviting people to decorate their Christmas window and make the city more sparkly. We also initiate cleaner city days by gathering people together and cleaning local streets. At the end of the day, it’s our city we live in, so let’s make it beautiful!

Since its establishment the community grew stronger and bigger, and has branched out to Scunthorpe, so more and more people are joining the communities to make them stronger. We also help local charities by supporting them in any way possible. One of them is One Humber, and their BME mums drop-in session aims to help young mums across the city and different cultures. We also help with Cultural Awareness sessions in schools and encourage the society to embrace the differences and learn all the wonderful culture that others have to show.

Our weekly Humber run is coordinated by the Lithuanian Youth group and takes place every Sunday 17:00; we meet up at Humber Bridge Tourist information centre, North Bank Viewing Area, Ferriby Rd, Hessle HU13 0LN, so come along!

These are only a few activities that we have going on, and a lot more in progress. As an organisation, we want to connect the local communities and empower people. By creating different activities we aim to involve elderly people to tackle isolation as well as the youth to keep them out of trouble. Our language courses and personal support helps individuals and families to improve the standard of their living. We have a first-hand experience with local residents and clearly know their demands, thus, we define local issues and aim to tackle it with the help of the community power. Together we are stronger and will make Hull a better place for both residents and visitors.

If you are interested in joining us, do not hesitate to get in touch! No matter your background, anyone is welcome even as observers only, we will make sure you find an activity that is close to your heart. Find us on Facebook and Twitter or drop a message to Ilona from our office.”