A COMMUNITY group has championed the phenomenal diversity in Bradford and says the city has a major part to play in showing love to Ukrainian refugees.

Bradford for Everyone Ambassadors won the Shared Values in Action Award (sponsored by Bradford for Everyone) at the Community Stars Awards last Wednesday.

There were 1,139 votes made in the category in total, with the ambassadors receiving 780 of those.

The other finalists were, Ludmila Novosjolova and Colin Simmons.

Michael Frazer, Bradford East and SCP Board member at Bradford for Everyone (top left in the picture), said on receiving the award: "I think we feel very grateful. We're a body of people across Bradford and district and we represent our communities and in a way we're a network of networks.

"What we try to do is help communities help our communities and all communities across Bradford and district, especially across different diverse ethnic backgrounds, to get to know each other better, to improve understanding of each other, to improve togetherness, so that we learn from each other.

"The project Bradford for Everyone has got some fantastic projects. We've funded hundreds of projects over the last three years.

"Some have been exceptional, like the Linking for Schools Network, where schools from different ethnic backgrounds come together, learn about each other's cultures, about each other's backgrounds, and it's great that the next generation hopefully are going to come together and create a more peaceful and improved environment for all of us in Bradford and district."

Bradford has long been famed for its incredibly diverse and young population and Bradford for Everyone wants to tell that story to the rest of the world.

Mr Frazer said: "Well we've got a great culture in Bradford, we've got lots of different cultures.

"We ourselves within the Bradford for Everyone Ambassadors, we've promoted culture, whether it's street art, or whether it's African refugees' arts and crafts.

"There's all sorts of different diverse cultures and they're all phenomenal and I think we've got a story to tell the rest of the UK and the world about how those cultures reflect the populations that have come here over the years to Bradford and what binds us together as one people in Bradford.

"I think we want to share those cultures as much as we can and we'll do that through the Bradford BID and hopefully become the City of Culture in 2025, so we can showcase to the rest of the world what the people of Bradford, what the cultures, reflect in terms of character and the way people have been brought together.

"Let's hope we're successful, because we're really looking forward to it."

Bradford's diversity comes in part from its recognition as a City of Sanctuary for those who have fled situations of extreme danger in their own countries.

Mr Frazer feels the city is a "big player" for helping Ukrainian refugees, as it was following the Second World War and during the recent crisis in Afghanistan.

He said: "We are a big player.

"Refugees have been coming here for many years, from the Second World War, we had Ukrainian, we had Polish refugees, we've had a big influx of Eastern Europeans.

"We've had people from all sorts of different parts of the world and we've blended together as one people.

"We're doing our bit now, we've done our bit for Afghanistan refugees, we've got a population of refugees who are being integrated into the community.

"We've got African refugees, who are doing great work within their own communities and integrating within our Bradford community.

"We're hoping to welcome Ukrainian refugees soon and do the same thing for them.

"Show them some love, show them what Bradford is like and help them get to understand our way of life and make their way in the world."