The mayor of Bolton has paid a special visit to the town's Ukrainian centre to honour the organisation's humanitarian efforts.

Cllr Andy Morgan and his partner, Karen Holdsworth, paid a visit to the Ukrainian Culture Centre, which is on Castle Street and functions as the Bolton branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB).

The organisation is the largest representative body for Ukrainians and those of Ukrainian descent in the UK.

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, the centre has played a significant role in humanitarian efforts such as organising donation drives and sending medical supplies to Ukraine and its neighbouring countries.

The centre is a vital hub for the Ukrainian community in the area and supports the East European country's culture and provides a space for social gatherings, cultural events, and community services.

It also offers weekly conversational English classes for users, who are from all parts of Ukraine and gave a short presentation on their city and town to Cllr Morgan.

The speakers showed pictures of their beautiful towns and cities before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and destruction inflicted by the conflict.

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Cllr Morgan said: “It was an inspiring visit where we heard from those that attended about their hometowns in Ukraine using English, they had learned at the sessions provided by the centre.

“I am so glad that those using the centre feel supported by the council and other agencies but would particularly like to thank Yaroslaw and his team for all they do.

“Whether that’s the English lessons, cultural support, the food bank at the centre and vital humanitarian supplies they collect and send to Ukraine.”

The visiting party was also shown the ongoing work of the AUGB in an ongoing project to supply humanitarian aid to an orphanage in Kyrvyi Rih, which is the birthplace of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.