Southampton Community Welcome

Last March 30 this year, a community welcome was organized by Southampton City Council through its mayor, Councillor John Slade to officially recognize the presence of the Global Xchange Programme (GXP) Team 58 in the city. In his speech, Councillor Slade stressed that the existence of the volunteers in Southampton is very timely considering that the city is becoming more diverse as years goes by and such projects is very essential to further promote unity amidst diversity.

He was then supported by the mayor of Eastleigh, Councillor Peter Wall who expressed his happiness that some institution in Eastleigh were chosen to be placements of the volunteers. According to him, his constituents would be very happy to share to the volunteers the resources that they have that are vital for their community development activities and projects.

Being one of the guests, Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom His Excellency Edgardo Espiritu in his speech thanked the leadership of Southampton and Eastleigh for accepting the programme this year. According to him, the continuing increase of number of Filipinos living in Southampton only proves that the city is one of the best places in the world for the Filipinos to live. He also cited the number of Filipino nurses that is currently working in some hospitals in the city.

Councillor Slade also requested the Ambassador to furnish a copy to his office the addresses of the Filipino volunteers in the Philippines. He said it

would be a good idea if Southampton and Eastleigh could establish a link with this provinces and cities for a collaborative effort of promoting community development and fair trade.

After the programme, the visitors were invited for a lunch prepared by the council. Right after the vast meal, the two mayors split them into two groups for the tour around the civic centre including the mayor’s office and council hall. The volunteers were also given the chance to wear the ceremonial gowns used by the city mayor.

by Jeffrey Engracial

Photo: Filipino Counterparts in Filipiniana. More photos to follow.