Following the Special General Meeting held on January 8th 2026 and a subsequent postal ballot of paid-up members, a unanimous decision has been taken to dissolve Manchester-St. Petersburg Friendship Society.
A dwindling number of members, a shrinking and ageing committee and a lack of interested younger members, combined with the current international situation regarding Russia and the suspension of the friendship links by Manchester City Council with St. Petersburg, has sadly led us to take this step. We are no longer able to fulfil our basic aims as a Society and the committee cannot see the situation improving on a practical or political level in the foreseeable future.
We look back on a proud history of initiatives in the past and the Mancunians behind them:
- The late Will Peters, economist, a founder member of MSPFS and fervent internationalist. He was a frequent visitor to St. Petersburg and gave many inspiring talks to young people there.
- Sheila Abrams (formerly Lemoine) , who is now 102 years old and is our oldest member. In the 1990’s Sheila had organised the Books for St. Petersburg Appeal, sending donated books to St. Petersburg library. She even took a job in Tesco’s to fund it!
- The late Neil Gilroy with Brian Hulme (later joined by Cath Pick) who founded the Relief of Orphans Fund (R.O.O.F.) St. Petersburg charity, sending clothing, equipment and funds to children’s homes in St. Petersburg in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Previously Neil Gilroy had also been instrumental in establishing medical exchanges between our cities.
- Jim Charnock (Treasurer) who tirelessly worked to send much needed medical aids (ostomy bags) for cancer patients to St. Petersburg.
- Catherine Danks, MSPFS Chair and retired Senior Lecturer in Russian History at Manchester Metropolitan University, who formed many academic links and organised student exchanges.
- Cath Pick (former Secretary and current committee member) who organised Russian language courses in St. Petersburg for students from the UK and was involved in a project by Manchester City College and the UK prison service to develop education programmes in Russian prisons.
- Brian Hulme (Vice-Chair) and Roz Hulme (Secretary) who together with colleagues of Manchester Balalaika Society continue to teach players of the Kalinka Balalaika Orchestra in Manchester. In the past Kalinka raised much needed funds for R.O.O.F. St. Petersburg charity through its annual charity concerts at RNCM. Brian and Roz also organised several study-tours to St. Petersburg for their players from 1987-2014, when they received lessons from Russian music teachers and conductors and performed at the House of Friendship.
We would like to thank all our friends and colleagues in St. Petersburg, especially Margarita Mudrak and her colleagues of our sister organisation in St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Association for International Cooperation, for their many years of collaboration and support. Also thanks to Olga Melknikova who was the R.O.O.F. organiser at local level in St. Petersburg, ensuring much-needed resources got to their intended destination.
Many thanks also for the past support of Manchester City Council with events (such as Victory Day commemorations), meetings and visiting delegations when the friendship link was still active.
All the committee members intend to continue informal contact with our many friends and colleagues in St. Petersburg in the hope of peace and cooperation in the future.
Finally, we would like to thank you and all our supporters, past and present.
