Right now in Greater Manchester, Roma families are coming together to tell a story that has never been properly heard.

On 16 May 2026, we will perform The 600 Roma at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, as part of the Romani Resistance Day programme. The performance begins from 2:30pm within the wider event.

I’m supporting this project personally, and I’m asking people across Greater Manchester to join me in making it happen.

We are raising £1,500 to deliver the performance. The total budget is £2,000, and the Greater Manchester Mental Health UNISON Branch has already generously contributed £500.

This is a live, community-led production involving around 20 Roma participants, including families, musicians, dancers and young people from across Greater Manchester.

The story we are bringing to life is based on real events from 16 May 1944, when 600 Roma prisoners in Auschwitz-Birkenau stood together and resisted a Nazi attempt to kill them, saving more than 6,000 lives.

It remains the only known moment in history where Roma from different groups united in the face of death.

This is their story.

The 600 Roma is a musical drama written by Juice Vamosi and Maria Palmai, grounded in lived experience, family memory and historical truth. It reflects the experiences of Roma families who survived persecution, deportation and loss during the Second World War, and carries those voices into the present day.

For me, this is more than a performance.

It is about visibility, dignity and recognition.

Antigypsyism is still a reality across the UK and Europe. Roma communities continue to face discrimination in education, healthcare and everyday life. Many children experience bullying and exclusion, and Roma culture and language remain largely unseen.

This project is a powerful response to that.

It creates space for Roma voices to be heard, for culture to be visible, and for history to be understood on its own terms.

It also shows something important: that unity and solidarity are still possible today. Just as the 600 stood together despite their differences, Roma families here in Greater Manchester are coming together to do the same.

This work is being done without institutional funding.

The £1,500 we are raising will cover essential costs, including:

• travel for around 20 Roma participants

• two rehearsals for the performing families

• a symbolic fee for those taking part

• food and basic support on the day

All funds will be managed through KaskoSan’s charitable structure and used directly to deliver this performance.

This is a grassroots effort built on trust, commitment and lived experience. The families involved are taking part because this story matters deeply to them.

I’m asking you to stand with us.

If you’re able to contribute, thank you.

If not, sharing this campaign will also make a real difference.

Together, we can:

• honour the memory of the 600 Roma

• challenge ongoing discrimination

• create visibility for Roma culture, language and history

• bring communities together through understanding

All funds raised will go directly towards delivering The 600 Roma performance and supporting the Roma families involved through KaskoSan.

Thank you for being part of this,

Neil McAlister

KaskoSan Trustee