New Language And Cultural Centre To Open In Greenock

A new international languages centre is set to open up in a historic Greenock street.

Nigerian father, Olu Durowoju, moved to Inverclyde five years ago and is now looking to bring some African culture to the town.

As dozens of African families settle in Inverclyde, Olu and his wife want to provide access to his home country's traditions, as well as celebrating other languages.

They are planning to establish a language and culture centre from a base in William Street, following support from Bowman Rebecchi and the property owners.

Businessman Olu, who lives in Wellington Street, said:

"There are so many families from Nigeria and other African countries now living in Inverclyde.

"We want this to be a cultural club as well as offering languages.

"It is so important to me to keep our Nigerian languages and customs alive for our children.

"We will be teaching Igbo and Yoruba, as well as European languages.

"We hope it will be a place where people can come to be together."

The couple has taken a lease on spacious premises on William Street across from the Dutch Gable House for their venture which they plan to transform into a bustling hub.

Andrew Bowman, Director of Bowman Rebecchi said:

"We were delighted to support Olu and Verena with their aims to create a much-needed cultural centre in Inverclyde.

"The new base is very central making it an ideal location to support the delivery of the business.

"We wish them good luck with their new venture."

Olu moved to Inverclyde with his wife Verena, daughter Oykinan, 17, and son Tomiwa, 13, in 2017.

He arrived in the UK in 1996 from the city of Ibadan to study sports science.

He has lived in a number of different places in the UK but says that Inverclyde is the first one that has felt like home to him.

The family were welcomed with open arms into the Wellpark Mid Kirk congregation while Oykinan is a promising young tennis player who has dreams of turning pro and is being coached by her dad.

This article and image appeared in The Greenock Telegraph.