Catherine's Story: "the bad actors who brought shame on the city are greatly outnumbered"

My name is Catherine Crean, I am the creator of the music integration project Tunes Translated.

For the past week, my days have played out very differently from how they usually do.

I watched the hatred descending on Belfast, leading to what can only be described as racist pogroms.

As an ESOL tutor to newcomer populations, and coordinator of a music project which seeks to facilitate integration between locals, migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, my first role was getting in touch with my contacts past and present, to ensure that they could feel safe and would have the resources and signposting they needed to deal with the coming days.

From then on, I wanted to do what I could on the ground to help those affected.

I volunteered with Anaka and PPR. Practically speaking, I spent several days in my car, giving lifts and delivering essentials to those who needed it across all of Belfast. On a personal level, I experienced firsthand the emotional load of those impacted by what happened in our city.

To give some examples; I found myself taking a young woman to and from her cancer treatment, delivering essentials to a family with a 12-day old baby, and helping a family with a disabled caregiver to top up their gas and electric.

When I was unable to personally help, it took mere minutes from my receiving requests to finding people eager to assist within our community action groups. Those affected were people seeking to live their lives without putting themselves or their families in unsafe situations.

The darkness of the past week hurt the most vulnerable of our society.

My experience this past week has been one of sadness and hope.

The response from Anaka and PPR has been astounding - their rallying the community shows the bad actors who brought shame on the city are greatly outnumbered.