A guest post by Tim Gee
Calling all readers, all writers, all thinkers, all artists, all activists, all people of faith and all people without.
All people of compassion need to improve the welcome for newcomers – through our projects and by changing government policy. But we are also working for something deeper – to reinvigorate a culture of hospitality in Britain.
Earlier this year, Quakers met together to share their concern at the rise in overt racism, and called on all people to ‘fertilise the soil in which the tender shoots of peace, love and unity may flourish.’
Throughout Refugee Week, Friends House London – opposite Euston Station – will be a space for people of all walks of life to meet together and discuss the ways we can renew and remember our common humanity.
We hope to see you there.
Refugee Week at Friends House
On Monday 19th June the Friends House Library will open its doors from 11am – 3pm to display artefacts and objects from past initiatives to offer sanctuary from the Boer War to the Kindertransport.
At 6.30pm, authors of bestseller The Good Immigrant will discuss how an anti-racist media might look – the first of a quartet of events in the bookshop.
On Tuesday 20th June – World Refugee Day – there will be a special all-age meeting for worship at 12.30pm to reflect on the situation faced by people seeking sanctuary.
At 6.30pm writers Hassan Abdulrazzak (A Country of Refuge), Ambrose Musiwiya (Over Land Over Sea) and Maron Ehata (Refugee Stories) will speak to their direct experience of seeking sanctuary in Britain.
On Wednesday 21st June – again at 6.30pm – internationally acclaimed author Gulwali Passarlay will be joined by Brazilian playwright Gaël Le Cornec and feature film director Sue Clayton to discuss the role of the arts in shaping in culture.
On Thursday 22nd June the novelists Sita Brahmachari (Red Leaves), Tim Finch (House of Journalists), Jason Donald (Delila) and Roma Tearne (Brixton Beach) will gather in the bookshop at 6.30pm to discuss the representation of immigration in fiction.
The finale to the week’s events comes on Sunday 25 June – ‘Sanctuary Sunday’ when Friends House will host a whole day of events from 11am – 5pm, featuring a panel on immigration detention with speakers from Freed Voices, Bail for Immigration Detainees and SOAS, culminating in a ‘RefuTEA’ in partnership with Refugee Council.
All events are free, but we do recommend booking in advance. To book your place visit www.quaker.org.uk/migration