Leamington friendship group get together for food and art

Making Moves involved 30 people from Club Amigos, a friendship group for Hispanic people from the two towns, to socialise, speak Spanish and take part in activities together.

Children and adults in the group had spent time working with textile artist Deirdre Nelson on creating a 5m-long patchwork tablecloth that expressed, through embroidery, ideas of ‘home’.

Pupils from Sydenham Primary School also created napkins embroidered with images of elephants to convey their importance to Leamington, to accomany the ‘mantel mas grande’.

Their creations were put together for a party at Temperate House, in Jephson Gardens, on the afternoon of May 12.

Juany Murphy, founder of Club Amigos, said: “It was something children and parents could participate in, as part of our efforts to create cohesion in the community.

“We thought the best way to show our traditions was through food.

“We always feel very proud of our food. we celebrate with food and we like to spend a lot of time at the dinner table.

“It’s a way of passing on traditions and expressing thanks to God for what we have.”

Juany, who is Peruvian and has lived in England for 15 years, now teaches Spanish at Warwickshire College.

When at home, she does insist that her family sit down to eat together at the table.

She was joined at this long table by all those who took part in the project to share food they brought from home, listen to music and celebrate their creation.

Making Moves, funded by the Arts Council, and led by Birmingham-based Craftspace, Staffordshire County Council and Warwick District Council, will now go on tour across the West Midlands between September this year and August 2013.

To find out more, visit www.makingmoves.org

Anyone with a Hispanic connection who would like to join Club Amigos can join the group at their meeting, which takes place at the Gap community centre in Oakwood Grove, Warwick, every other Saturday, between October and July, from 3pm to 6pm.