Here is your Friday update, covering:

• Stories for Cohesion - new film highlights importance of arts to communities
• Ysgol Berllan Deg - Cardiff's first Welsh-medium primary School of Sanctuary
• BBC Children in Need - Cardiff's Youth Services members in gaming fundraiser
• Cardiff's Local Nature Partnership - a call to get involved in drawing up plans to restore and improve nature in the city

New film highlights importance of arts to communities

A powerful new film demonstrating how the people of Cardiff are using arts, education and culture to improve diversity and encourage inclusivity in the city has been launched on the internet today.

Stories for Cohesion, available to watch  here,  is a 12-minute short produced by the Co-operative Councils Innovation Network (CCIN), a group of UK local authorities.

It features leading figures from Cardiff's arts, theatre and music scenes along with teachers, councillors and community cohesion workers all explaining how their work helps to generate harmony in the city's multi-ethnic communities.

Among those taking part is Father Dean Atkins, of the South Cardiff Ministry Area, who introduces the film. "It's the stories that people bring with them, the humanity that exists... it's important for people to own their stories," he said. "We are more powerful when we work together and celebrate the resources that people bring with them."

Among events and people highlighted in the film are:

• Cardiff Refugee Week (which focuses on work done by staff and children at St Mary the Virgin Primary - a designated ‘School of Sanctuary' based in Butetown)
• Radio Platfform, a radio station run by young people and based at the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC)
• A WMC production of The Boy With Two Hearts, an adaptation of the book by Hamed and Hassem Amiri, two refugees from Afghanistan who settled in South Wales after a traumatic journey fleeing the Taliban
• The work of Betty Campbell from Butetown. Wales' first black head teacher, she is now honoured with a statue in Wood Street, Cardiff

Read more here

First for Cardiff: Welsh Medium Primary School receives School of Sanctuary Recognition as city celebrates Black History Month

Ysgol Y Berllan Deg in Llanedeyrn has become the first Welsh medium primary school in Cardiff to be awarded School of Sanctuary Recognition.

To mark the significant milestone, Cardiff Council Leader Cllr Huw Thomas has presented the school with its award during a special event attended by pupils, staff and governors, coinciding with the city's 2023 Black History Month celebrations.

Recognised for establishing a welcoming and caring ethos which supports pupils from all backgrounds the school has been supported by the Council's Ethnic Minority Travellers Achievement Service (EMTAS) to demonstrate ways in which pupils feel seen, supported and included as well as an understanding of what it means for someone to be seeking sanctuary and in need of help.         

Read more here

‘Game On' as members from Cardiff's Youth Services take part in live gaming fundraiser for BBC Children in Need

Four young people from Cardiff's Youth Services will take part in a live gaming fundraiser for BBC Children in Need.

Supported by Cardiff's Youth Service, Lee, Sam, Owen and James travelled to Bangor earlier this month to compete in Hado, an augmented reality sport competition, and have been placed in top position across eight tournaments that ran across the UK.

They will now appear on the "Game On" programme which will be broadcast live on November 10th and aims to unite gamers up and down the country to help raise money for BBC Children in Need.

The show, made by BBC Studios Entertainment and Music and commissioned by the BBC, will broadcast on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer at 7pm and feature a host of celebrities, content creators, influencers, gamers and members of the public who will challenge one another in a two-hour spectacle.

Members of the public will have the chance to compete in the epic live show by playing three iconic games through the BBC Children in Need Sim Rig Tour, BBC Children in Need's Just Dance for Pudsey and the Hado Tournament for BBC Children in Need.

Read more here

Help develop Cardiff's Local Nature Recovery Action Plan

Cardiff's Local Nature Partnership (LNP) are encouraging local people, community groups and businesses to help develop a Local Nature Action Recovery Plan that will set out what needs to be done to restore and improve nature in the city.

Everyone can get involved by attending one of the workshops and drop-in sessions being run by the LNP over the coming months.

Read more here