Before a note is song of their Eurovision entry, Ukraine has already won cultural accolades in Greater Manchester today. Two Ukrainian Catholic Churches in Salford and Oldham have been granted Grade II listed status.
The first recorded Ukrainians arrived in the late 19th and early 20th century when several hundred people from western Ukraine settled in Manchester. Following the Second World War, around 35,000 Ukrainians came to the UK as part of the European Volunteer Workers scheme. This was set up to address labour shortages by providing jobs in industry and agriculture to ‘displaced’ people.
Many found work in the cotton mills of Manchester and woollen industry in West Yorkshire. More Ukrainians migrated to England following the collapse of the Soviet Union and, most recently, to escape the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
