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Coming Together in Govanhill: Reflections from Our Biggest Friendship Café Yet
Andreea Nedelea - Community engagement, employability and welfare advice at Community Renewal Rom Romeha
October 26, 2026
On Friday, 23 October, Community Renewal Rom Romeha held our biggest Friendship Café event to date at Govanhill Free Church.
Slovak and Romanian Roma families came together alongside members of the wider community for an evening of traditional Slovak food, music, conversation and, most importantly, connection. The sarmale were a real favourite, and it was lovely to see everyone enjoying the food together.
What made the evening especially nice was seeing different generations together in the same space — children, parents and older members of the community all sharing food, talking and enjoying the evening together.
For me, one of the most valuable parts was simply having the opportunity to sit down with people and listen.
A lot of our everyday work involves supporting people with practical issues — welfare benefits, housing, employment and other appointments. All of that is important. But Friday gave us something slightly different: time to talk without an appointment, a form to complete or an immediate problem to solve.
Over dinner, I could catch up with people, ask how things were going and hear more about what they feel the community needs, what they would like to see happening and what ideas they have for the future.
Listening to what people actually want also gave us the chance to brainstorm ideas together for future projects and activities. For me, that was one of the most valuable parts of the evening — not deciding for the community, but creating space to think together about what could come next.
When I asked people how they felt about the evening, their answers were simple but meaningful:
'A great atmosphere, good music, a traditional menu and excellent company'.
'Good food, nice people and everyone enjoying being together'.
'It’s good to have something happening for the Roma community — a safe space to socialise'.
Another person simply told me how lovely it was to be in
These comments stayed with me because they show that community events do not always need to be complicated to have value.
Sometimes people simply need a place where they can come together, eat, talk, laugh, meet others and feel comfortable being themselves.
For Roma people in Govanhill, having safe and welcoming spaces to socialise is especially important. These spaces can strengthen relationships between families, bring generations together, create new connections and give people opportunities to speak openly about what they need from their community and from the organisations working alongside them.
I also really appreciated that it was not only one group in the room. Slovak Roma families, Romanian Roma families and members of the wider public were all sharing the same space and the same tables.
For me, that is what community-building should look like.
Not only providing services for people, but creating opportunities to spend time with people.
Listening, learning, sharing food and giving people the space to tell us, in their own words, what matters to them.
The Friendship Café may look like an evening of food and music — and it certainly was a very enjoyable one — but it can also be something more.
It can be a place to build trust, strengthen relationships, connect different generations and help the Roma community in Govanhill feel more united.
Thank you to everyone who came, everyone who helped make the evening possible, and especially everyone who took the time to share their thoughts with me.
I hope there will be many more evenings like this.
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