The Melting Pot Luck is a community group which brings residents of Direct Provision and local community members together with intercultural 'potluck' dinners and events. Our group is made up of local people, immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees who all share a love of learning about other cultures, food and music.

A group of locals and residents of Direct Provision started this group in April 2017 to create a welcoming space where asylum seekers and other newcomers in Galway can have a chance to meet with local people and celebrate each other's cultures. In 2017 and 2018 we hosted 6 intercultural 'potluck' dinners with members of the local community and residents of the two Direct Provision centres in Galway. Our members have also taken part in the 'Breaking Bread' event as part of Galway Food Festival 2018 and the World Refugee Festival 2018. In 2019, we hosted four successful events, including the first Street Feast in collaboration with Galway African Diaspora in Salthill park and a joint fundraiser gig with Galway Anti Racism Network. 

We provide space and ingredients for residents of Direct Provision to cook dishes from their own country to share at our events. Local people also bring food and we enjoy music and dance together. Participants of our events benefit from learning about other cultures, and developing connections with new people. The group also allows participants to keep up skills such as cooking that living in Direct Provision denies them of using, and it provides a respite from the social isolation of living in Direct Provision. Our events are hosted in a spirit of solidarity with people living in Direct Provision and help to raise awareness in the wider community about the issues that people living in that system face. 

In addition to our 'potluck' dinners members of our committee have set up a smaller cooking club with residents at the Eglinton centre and the Great Western hostel, so that people can cook food from their own countries to feed their families and share with their friends.  We have also hosted intercultural music events at the Arts Centre in 2018 and  for Culture night 2019, which have helped to promote the amazing talents of members of our group. 
 
In order to do any of this we need to do constant fundraising to pay for ingredients, equipment, insurance, venue hire, decorations, transport, and other costs. We sometimes get funding for specific events,  however we need to keep up fundraising to make sure we can keep doing things our way and not chase funding applications. 
If you can support us, please click the Donate button to contribute what you can, or share this page with your contacts. We'd really appreciate it!

If you'd like to find out more; like and follow @galwaymeltingpotluck on Facebook or email galwaymeltingpo[email protected] if you want to be added to our email list. 

A huge thanks  from everyone in the Melting Pot Luck team!