Galway Ukrainian hub opens its doors in Westside Community Centre

A new Ukrainian Hub which opened in the Westside will serve as a vital resource for those who have arrived in the city from their war-torn homeland in the past three months.

A ‘Palyantsia’ – which operates like a free charity shop for refugees from Ukraine – opened its doors in Westside Community Centre and one of the people behind it says it will provide much needed essentials for arriving refugees who have ‘lost everything’.

Archee Kvashyn, who fled Ukraine with his family, put out a call on social media a few weeks ago in search of a space where they could operate a hub from and thanks to the cooperation of Galway City Partnership and Galway City Council, they have secured a room off the main sports hall at the community centre.

“It’s perfect,” says Archee of the space, explaining that items such as sanitary goods, clothes and toys for children are available to those who drop in.

“We opened last week and we had hundreds of people call. It’s being operated by Ukrainian people for now but we are hoping to involve others through the Galway Volunteer Centre in time,” he continues.

The hub is the brainchild of the Association of Ukrainians in Ireland and follows the opening of a similar Palyantsia in Dublin which has proven a huge success.

Archee says they owe thanks to the City Partnership and City Council who supported them to get the idea off the ground, and to a local retirement group who have also shown their support.

Archee, a journalist by trade, arrived in An Spidéal with his wife Daria and three children shortly after war broke out in February – staying at the Park Lodge Hotel having been forced to leave his native Bucha.

He knows all too well the challenges facing those who are just arriving and says he hopes the hub will support those new arrivals in Galway City, as well as those staying on the outskirts or in the county.

“We are asking people for donations of clothes and shoes. There are many Ukrainian children here too and they need buggies or small children’s bikes, games and toys.

“Sometimes also people have old smartphones that they might be able to donate. Many of the people from Ukraine have lost everything including all communications so if people had electrical devices that might help and this is stuff that is needed,” he says.

Meanwhile, Westside Resource Centre continues to support Ukrainian arrivals next door to the community centre, with their English language classes proving a particular success.

Manager of the Resource Centre, James Coyne, explains that the Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board-run classes have been up and running for some time and he hopes they may be expanded in the future.

With the hub next door, there is an opportunity to reach more of the Ukrainian arrivals who may not be aware of the facilities available to them, he says.

“We are very glad to be able to play some role in helping and with the likes of the language classes, that is something we are able to accommodate,” he says.

The most recent CSO figures show that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, just under 2,000 Ukrainians have been settled in Galway City and County.

City West, City Centre and City East are hosting 113, 571 and 69 arrivals respectively, while across the county, there is currently 1,922 Ukrainian refugees.