City Speaks

  I will never forget the last time that I saw my Grandfather before the ambulance arrived. He was sat in his chair forcing himself to finish off his lunch whilst trying to navigate video calls from family members. he told me not to cry and that he would be returning home in a few days. After two courses on anti-biotics his chest infection and terrible cough wasn’t improving.  He gradually grew weaker till he struggled to eat a full meal. My father and Uncles agonised over the decision of whether to send him to hospital for treatment. With his deteriorated state, they were left with no other choice but to send him knowing he may never come back. I kept begging my uncles not to let him go. Despite my protests the ambulance was called. I was afraid I may never see him again. I had always remembered my Grandfather as a fighter. At 94 years old he had witnessed WWII, the Partition of India and a triple heart bypass. He would always tell me stories of his career in the Navy

  When I was a young girl, I knew Clare street in Riverside well. This was where my uncle had his corner shop there which I visited often with my dad. As much as I felt happy going to my uncles’ shop, I also made sure to turn my back to the creepy "Scream House" that loomed in front of the shop.   A house that was boarded up with all sorts of slogans displayed  on wooden boards covering its windows and doors. It was the painted picture of the famous "Edvard Munsch" scream that terrified me the most. The gaping mouth widely screaming in despair gave me the chills.    It was obvious to me even as a child that the person living there must have been really angry and upset, but I never knew why? Twenty years later an opportunity arrived that allowed me to meet the man behind "Scream House" and  find out what led him to live in permanent lock down.  The man who had curated the house was Riverside resident Gerald Aiden Tobin. An individual who had b

    Hideout café partnered with Cardiff University’s Community Gateway project has started a ten-week breakfast club for low income families and those affected by COVID. Moseem Suleman who helps to run Hideout café at the Grangetown Pavilion said: “We are always looking for opportunities in which we can benefit people and get people to come into this building, to come into this coffee shop which is inclusive for everyone.” When asked how many have been attending Moseem said “On average 60-90 individuals during the week” from a variety of different backgrounds, from Asylum seekers to Eastern European migrants. The food provided by the breakfast club is made fresh for each customer, hot and ready to go as they choose from its menu. So far, the feedback Moseem had received has been positive. “People have said that it is so useful to have breakfast in the morning, the kids are happy to go to school.” He said. “Everytime I start these things I think people are not going to come,

  Former Geneticist and refugee Sahar Al-Faifi hopes to be the first Niqabi (face covering) Muslim woman selected as a Plaid Cymru Candidate for the Senedd for the 2021 elections. She describes her experience of working in a cancer diagnostic lab as a Geneticist and why she left it all to become a social justice campaigner. “I have never been interested in Party Politics” she said. “What motivated me to join Plaid Cymru is the anger and frustration I had for the Muslims and BME voices being missed in political discussions and discourse.” She further states how she wanted to directly change the political system for BME and Muslim community by running for the Senedd 2021 elections. “Traditionally Muslims and BME are labour supporters, especially if you go to the more highly populated Muslim areas like Butetown and Grangetown. She said. “A lot of Muslims vote Labour. They have never interacted with Plaid Cymru, I was the same.” However, things soon changed for Sahar when she w