The Polish Supplementary School based at St Joseph's High School in Newry held an art competition for their pupils at the weekend to mark Polish Heritage Days. The entries were a chance for pupils to show what Poland means to them.

The aim of Polish Heritage Days is to promote and celebrate Polish culture, heritage of the past generations and the positive role and contribution made by the near-million members of the Polish diaspora to the cultural, economic and social life in the UK, as part of the Day of Poles Abroad and the Flag Day celebrated on 2nd May as well as the 3rd of May Constitution Day.

Speaking on the initiative the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in London Arkady Rzegocki said: “I would like to warmly invite everyone to join us in the Polish Heritage Days celebrations which for the third time will take place across the whole of the United Kingdom around the 3rd of May Constitution Day.

Let’s share our culture and heritage with our neighbours, let’s challenge stereotypes, let’s showcase our openness, tolerance, and engagement in the life of local communities in the United Kingdom. We have a choice of around 150 events which will be organised by the Polish community together with our British friends and neighbours in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I hope that, as we celebrate Polish Heritage Days, we can share with our British friends the richness of our culture and tradition.”
For more information about the celebrations, follow #PLHeritageDays and #PolesinUK on social media and visit the virtual map of all the events on the Embassy’s website (available soon).
2019 marks the 15th anniversary of the accession of Poland to the European Union. The Polish Supplementary School runs classes every Saturday at St Joseph's in Newry.