We’re delighted to introduce the new Refugee Week Advisory Group, which we have formed in order to broaden the range of voices that inform Refugee Week at the national level.

The group will enable us to hear from some of the wide range of groups and sectors involved in Refugee Week in a more direct and consistent way, and we hope it will also help Refugee Week to engage new audiences.

The initiative is a step forward (although not an end point) in our journey to embedding lived experience leadership in Refugee Week nationally.

The new group will advise the national Refugee Week partnership, which is represented through the Refugee Week Operations Group and Steering Group.

The Advisory Group met on Zoom for the first time on 2 November, for a workshop about the Refugee Week Theory of Change, which we are currently reviewing with our partners and network. The current plan is for the group to have two main meetings per year.

This is an exciting new venture for Refugee Week and we are keen to listen, learn and review over the course of the Advisory Group’s first year.

The members of the Refugee Week Advisory Group 2020-21 are:

Ayham Alsuleman, Senior Project Officer (Refugee Resettlement) GLA (participating in a personal capacity)

Kevin Coleman, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, The Football Association

David Feindouno, Founder and Chair, Plymouth Hope

Md Mominul Hamid, Campaigner for Asylum Seeker Rights

Loraine Masiya Mponela, Chairperson, Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG)

Mandla-Rae Nkomo, Writer, programmer and theatre-maker

Selina Nwulu, Writer and Consultant

Laura Nyahuye, Creative Director/CEO and Founder, Maokwo

Shona Pratt, Chief of Staff for the VP of Northern Europe, Facebook

Jake Rose-Brown, Lead, Norfolk Schools of Sanctuary

Dr Sita Thomas, Theatre and Film Director and Children’s Television Presenter

Sally Watkins, Co-founder and a Co-Artistic Director, b-side Festival

Ros Wynne-Jones, Columnist, The Mirror