Latest news with #SheffieldCathedral
BBC News
12-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Sheffield Cathedral to hold funeral for referee Uriah Rennie
The funeral of football referee Uriah Rennie is to be held at Sheffield Cathedral on Monday. Rennie, the Premier League's first black referee, died aged 65 on 7 June after "battling a recent cancer diagnosis", his family cathedral said the funeral would begin at 11:00 BST, with a public viewing area and large screen available outside.A spokesperson said: "All are welcome to come to pay their respects." Speaking after his death, Rennie's partner, Jayne, and his older brother, Glenroy, said he would be "so very sadly missed".In a statement, they said: "Our family have appreciated all the support from the nursing teams from Northern General and Weston Park Hospitals, plus close family and friends during the past few weeks at such a difficult time."Born in Jamaica, Rennie moved to Sheffield aged six and grew up in the Wybourn area of the became a match official in 1994 and oversaw more than 300 games, including 175 in the Premier League. He retired from football in was also a magistrate for the city, a role he took up in 1996, and was appointed as chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University in May. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BBC News
22-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Sheffield Cathedral exhibition raises money for Ukraine veterans
Three years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, an exhibition of artwork by veterans, widows and children is raising money for medical work was created during art therapy sessions at Veterans' House in Rivne, Western Ukraine, and is being sold at Sheffield Cathedral this is home to a Ukrainian diaspora of between 100-150 people, many of whom have moved to the city for work, says Sheffield branch committee member of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Tetyana hopes the exhibition, which runs from 22-24 February, will help people connect through human stories."The Ukrainian community in Sheffield has been here for many years," says Ms Klymenko."The majority of us came here on skilled worker visas, so we came to work in science, technology, engineering and then when the full scale war broke out we could not stand aside."It was only natural we would try to bring projects from Ukraine to England to help our English neighbours, colleagues and friends understand through individual stories and to connect through human stories." Rivne Veterans' House has been offering free art therapy for about seven years, and in the last three has stepped up its work to meet the needs of soldiers and families affected by the Viktoriia Shynkarenko began painting to help with her insomnia after coming back from the frontline."I had severe insomnia and sometimes I would spend an entire night working on a painting and it was better than turning in my bed and trying to get some sleep," she selling her first painting, she decided to put the money into helping others and began reading about art therapy. Now her mission is to bring the "inner painter" out of everyone who comes to the centre."I sort of stumbled on it because that's what helped me heal. Now, I'm of the strong opinion you don't particularly need a talent or a training."We are all artists. We are all painters. We were all drawing pictures when we were little. We just need to find again this courage," she centre provides trained psychologists to work alongside the classes, but painting also has physical benefits, she says."It's both psychological but also for the fine motor skills. "For people who are recovering after a serious wound, head wounds or lost a limb, they need to now learn to use their other hand," she says. The response among those who take part has been very positive, says Ms Shynkarenko. "Most participants want to come back and do it more than once, more than twice. In some cases, they are taking months."For a wounded soldier this restores their dignity, particularly if you are a strong male, an alpha type who is now in a wheelchair and a nappy. "It's important to feel what you do contributes towards helping others and it's important for their dignity to feel recognised, particularly when their picture gets purchased abroad," she mothers, widows and children, the sessions are more about finding a network of people in a similar situation."It's finding out you're not alone in your in your grief," says Ms Shynkarenko."A mother who lost a child will do anything to prevent another mother from losing a child." The project has taken paintings across the world, with sales in Australia, Canada, the US and across a twist of fortune, one buyer even met the artist in person."We were organising the first exhibition and an English woman who had bought a painting then travelled to Ukraine several years later, and met the veteran accidentally when she bumped into him in a supermarket." This week the centre will hold its 610th project is funded by the Ukrainian government, Rivne's council and in recent years, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).But following President Trump's freeze on USAID, Ms Shynkarenko says the project is beginning to look elsewhere for said the US funding was used to buy canvasses and paints. "But if the if the decision is taken to completely cut funding, we're not planning on stopping. "We've done it for years before we had that funding and we're now actively looking for an alternative base of support and reaching out to England might be one of those options," she says."We are not giving up, but we are also very acutely aware that we need help. Ukraine needs help. People in Ukraine need help."Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
