2019 Simple Acts Highlights
This Refugee Week we invited you to do one of 7 Simple Acts to explore our theme of ‘You, me and those who came before’.
We hoped that by each doing something small, together we could help make new connections in our communities, gain a better understanding of refugee experiences and show solidarity and support to newcomers to the UK. Your responses were amazing!
You shared recipes and food, made messages of welcome at your schools. You wrote poems, you listened and danced to the Refugee Week playlist! You investigated your own family history, and you shared stories about people who have sought refuge in the UK, to help us imagine life through their eyes. And through books, films and uncovering hidden histories, you heard (and told) a different story about refugees.
You can take part in Simple Acts at any time of year. Why not do one at home, school, your workplace (or anywhere else) later today? Visit the Simple Acts page to find out more.
Competition time! We are giving away x4 sets of these three children’s books that explore themes of home, journeys and migration. See details below on how to enter (closing date: 25 October 2019).
Our Refugee Week Ambassadors
This year we had an amazing group of Refugee Week Ambassadors who are passionate about working to change attitudes and perceptions around refugees by sharing their stories and talking to the media. You can read some of their blog posts on the Huffington Post here.
All our Ambassadors are from refugee, asylum seeking or migrant backgrounds. If you are interested in being an Ambassador for 2020 then please get in touch with us.
You, Me and Those Who Came Before: Legacy and Beyond.
Guest Post: Sabrina Richmond is a performer and writer and in her role as a Refugee Week Leader, she is the Globe’s Artist in Residence during Refugee Week. In this blog Sabrina talks about what home means to her […]
Guest post: Singing our lives is is a ground-breaking creative process bringing together singers and musicians form refugee, migrant and local UK backgrounds to compose and perform new music together. Read more about their work and upcoming performance for Refugee Week at the Southbank Centre on 23rd June […]
Guest post: Inclusion begins in our communities: read more about how IOM UK are marking Refugee Week with an event at Bristol City Hall on 19th June, 5.30-7pm […]
Guest post: The T06411 is a North African migrant boat named after the official code given by Italian customs when it was seized close to Lampedusa in 2012, with 36 migrants on board. The boat is moored in London this Refugee Week as part of a ‘floating installation’ by artist Lucy Wood. Read more about her incredible journey and creative process here[…]
Guest post: Nosy Crow children’s author Karen McCombie tells us about Scotland’s forgotten history of the Highland Clearances, when thousands of Highlanders were displaced from their homes during the 18th and 19th centuries […]
Guest post: Meet Pam, an activist in exile and one of our new 2019 Refugee Week Ambassadors
As an activist for political freedom in her native Thailand, Pam was an outspoken student critic of the junta regime. Because of this she was mistreated, jailed and persecuted. Pam is now an activist in exile and has been living in the UK with refugee status since 2016. She works with Refugee Week partner STAR (Student Action for Refugees) as their Communication and Campaign Volunteer Officer, working to improve how we welcome students from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds here in Britain. She has written a blog for us about her work, and how volunteering in the Refugee Sector transformed her life as a refugee in the UK […]
Guest post by Liz Holden, Percy Boynton Cards Percy Boynton Cards are stylish and attractive cards that are suitable for most occasions – birthdays, thank you etc – as the cards are blank inside (apart from the Christmas range). I started this project two years ago, combining an interest in art, design and photography with […]
Guest post by York University For a 3rd year running, two local refugee groups – Boaz Trust and supporters of Freedom from Torture – will be holding a popular Garden Cafe as part of Burnage and Levenshulme Open Gardens in South Manchester. Highlights include Botanically-themed cakes, Fairtrade and fresh herbal teas, freshly ground coffee and […]
Guest post by Tull100 If you’re planning to make football part of your Refugee Week activities this year, then why not link to a new campaign remembering one of Britain’s first black professional players? Join Tull100 — Football Remembers and take part in the No Barriers medal challenge to make your community more inclusive and […]
Guest post by Titilola Dawudu, Oval House The Croydon Avengers is at Oval House for Refugee Week 2018 Ovalhouse’s history has been all about championing voices that are usually silenced. Our longest running participatory programme, We Are London, bridging the gap for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, recently came to an end due to funding. So […]
Guest post by Tolu Agbelusi, Home Is Project Ilé la Wà is at Stratford Circus as part of Refugee Week 2018 Men the age of my father don’t cry in public, don’t watch helpless whilst others speak for them. Not in my community—where women of this same generation raised children not to air their dirty […]
Guest post by Shakespeare’s Globe From 17 – 24 June we will be marking Refugee Week 2018 with a festival of performances, discussions and storytelling sessions exploring Shakespeare’s response to refuge and refugees. Opening Refugee Week on 17 June, Syrian Canadian artist Dima Karout will lead a hands-on woodcut print workshop, Fingerprints, encouraging you to […]
Guest post by Inderjit Bhogal, City of Sanctuary The Sunday at the end of refugee Week is Sanctuary Sunday. The first annual Sanctuary Sunday will be marked on 24th June 2018. Refugee Week is working with City of Sanctuary and also Churches Together in Britain & Ireland to support this. Churches of all denominations are […]
Guest post by Faye Grima, SOS Children’s Villages UK SOS Children’s Villages UK is the UK arm of the world’s largest charity supporting children without parental care. As part of Refugee Week, we’re asking people to ‘Walk a Mile’ in the shoes of a child refugee. View more at: https://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/ This Refugee Week, SOS Children’s […]
A guest post by Ann Nichols, Edmund Rice England ‘Tastes of Home’ is an advocacy and fund-raising project for those seeking asylum and refugees in the North West. Inspired by a recipe book we saw at the UN in Geneva, we at Edmund Rice England, began the project ‘Tastes of Home’ with refugees and asylum […]
Tim Farron MP has tabled an Early Day Motion encouraging MPs to show their support for Refugee Week as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. The motion encourages MPs to celebrate Refugee Week’s message of ‘Different pasts, shared future’, to support the work of Refugee Week’s partners and to celebrate Refugee Week in their constituencies, and […]