Our new online timeline is now live!

For Refugee Week UK 2013 we are looking at the contributions of refugees to our history and heritage. This timeline and ‘living archive’ created by Refugee Week aims to acknowledge these contributions and highlight how refugees and their descendants have helped shape our nation. We hope you find it useful and as fascinating as we do! We want to make sure that Britain is reminded of how refugees and migrants have influenced our history, heritage and culture.

Did you know that the UK has been offering protection to refugees for hundreds of years? That refugees and their descendants have had significant contributions to our arts, science, sports and literature? That refugees co-designed Hampton Court Palace, helped establish the Bank of England and brought us the Paralympics?

The timeline is at its early stages but we hope that, with your involvement, it will grow, develop and celebrate all our similarities and difference. There are many more facts, often significant and surprising facts, to discover about our history and heritage. As a participatory ‘living archive’ your perspectives and input will ensure that our account of our history and the contributions of individuals within it will be ever changing and improve.

In a survey, 94% of the people we spoke to agreed that we need to ensure that our future generations are more aware of this shared history. This online timeline holds many answers and surprises about our history and heritage.