Approximately 150 guests enjoyed a preview of a photography exhibition that looks at Liverpool through the eyes of its migrants at the city's Anglican Cathedral this week.
People from the world of arts, business and media joined photographers, asylum seekers and the homeless to view Diverse City - a photography exhibition commissioned by The Riverside Group to
celebrate its 80-years on Merseyside.
Mike McCartney, poet Levi Tafari and Gee Walker were just some of the recognisable faces at the launch. Their portraits, taken by six North West photographers, sat alongside tenants and staff of
the social housing and regeneration organisation, to tell a tale of the city through individual experiences of those who have moved into and out of Liverpool.
Students from Upton Hall School on the Wirral interviewed subjects to record and display their personal memories of the city. To introduce the exhibition, Poet Levi Tafari and broadcaster Winifred
Robinson recalled their roots in Liverpool.
"I was born in a back to back terrace and lived there until the age of five when we moved to a council house in Norris Green," said Winifred. "Our new house even had a bath, so we didn't need the
tin bath from the terraced house any more. There's a lot less stigma attached to living in social housing these days. It's really important that social landlords like The Riverside Group continue
to provide decent affordable housing, especially in the current climate."
Hugh Owen, director of policy and communications added: "When we started out 80 years ago in the slums of Liverpool there was appalling deprivation in the city. Our first few houses in Swan Street
- just a few streets away from here - provided much needed homes for the poor. We have grown since those early days to become a national and one of the largest providers of affordable housing. But
it's a shame that despite our progress there is still poverty and deprivation in Liverpool, so our work to regenerate and improve neighbourhoods and lives is still as critical today as it was in
1928."
The exhibition runs from 26 November to 1 December at the Anglican Cathedral, St James Road, then moves to City Exchange, Old Hall Street, from 4 to 18 December.
The exhibition is the last in a series of arts projects commissioned by The Riverside Group to celebrate its 80th birthday. Earlier this year the organisation commissioned Belfast Loyalist Mark
Ervine and Republican Danny Devenny to paint a Beatles themed mural on the gable end of a Riverside property in Litherland.
