Dear Members, Friends and Supporters, on behalf of COMPAS Charity I would like to wish you happy and successful New Year.
Please see the bellow outline of plans for the coming weeks.

Creative Refuge
Starting from Thursday 23rd January 2020, this new project will offer art / creativity as a way to cope with Mental Health – this would be in the form of a variety of activities which would be steered by the group and led by Morgan Fitzsimons.

Arts with a purpose
Starting from Tuesday 21st January 2020, this new project led by Morgan Fitzsimons will create an opportunity for people that want to have a go at creating art and exploring new ways of expressing themselves.

EXHIBITION: Forgotten Victims of the Nazi Genocide: Roma and Sinti
During the genocide, carried out against the Roma and Sinti communities of Europe by the Nazis and their collaborators, as many as 500,000 Roma people were murdered and persecuted.
Our unique exhibition, Forgotten Victims of the Nazi Genocide: Roma and Sinti, draws upon various collections of material including photographs, documents and books.
The exhibition will offer a unique opportunity to explore the life of Roma people in pre-war, war and post-war times. It will also show the contemporary situation of Roma people in Europe and Britain and the alarming rise of neo Nazi and far-Right groups.
The exhibition will be officially opened on Monday 27th January 2020 at 15:00 at the COMPAS Orion, 19 Fitzwilliam Street, Peterborough, PE1 2RU; and will last for the whole week.

Valentines Ball & Miss Orion 2020
On Saturday 15th February 2020 from 16:00 to 23:00 we will celebrate Valentine’s Day with our first Valentine’s Ball. The entertainment will include Miss Orion 2020, beauty and talent competition; and singing and musical performances by local artists.
Tickets are now on sale at our café for £20 per person.
Safeguarding Roma People & Communities in Peterborough
Workshop organised by EEALGA, in conjunction with Roma Support Group will be very beneficial for organisations such as Children’s services, Adult social services, Family intervention and support services, Schools, Education welfare services, Social housing, Mental health services, Community police, Youth services including Youth Offending Services, Probation, voluntary organisations, etc.
The workshop is free of charge. You can book you place via this link: https://smp.eelga.gov.uk/events/parallel-lives-roma-safeguarding-peterborough-4/
REGULAR ACTIVITIES
Welcome project
This project comes in two parts – cooking sessions and debate club. In the past weeks we have tasted Argentinian traditional Mata (kind of a tea) and delicious sweets, discussed the current ESOL provisions and the current political topics.
The topics for coming weeks are:
14th January – traditional Czech cakes
21st January – Roma sweet flatbread
28th January – Holocaust and Genocide
11th February – Slovak traditional sandwiches
Advice centre
The free advisory service includes help with the application for Settled status, translation, debt advice, form filling and other. The service is completely free and is open to anyone, every Monday and Tuesday from 10am to 2pm. We also work very closely with Solutions 4 Health and offer bi-weekly drop-in sessions for health checks.
ORION School
The school currently offers:
Pre-school play & learn club on Saturdays from 1 – 3pm
Czech language classes to children from the age of 6 to 14 on Fridays from 5.30 – 7.30pm
ESOL language classes to adults, free of charge to people over 50 years old and on benefits
ORION Cafe
The community café is open every day (apart of Wednesday) from 10am to 5pm and offers delicious range of refreshments.
Hire of the venue
Orion hub offers endless opportunities for its use. The venue is available for private hire for very competitive prices. You can book the venue for children’s parties, conferences or events.