Refugee Week

Today marks the start of Refugee Week – “a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees. Founded in 1998 and held every year around World Refugee Day on the 20 June, Refugee Week is also a growing global movement.”

We want to take this opportunity to reinforce the fact that we are open to and inclusive of refugee and migrant survivors. We are able to source translators if one is needed, and we can be flexible about where our counselling and ISVA sessions are held to meet your needs. Our services are free or donation-based, and we are an independent organisation, led by the needs of survivors.

We do not have an automatic duty to pass on information regarding anyone’s immigration status – if this is something that concerns you, or may be a barrier to support, please feel free to anonymously get in touch and talk to us about this.

We are proud to be based in Brighton, a City of Sanctuary, and to share solidarity with local organisations working tirelessly with refugees: the Hummingbird Project, Voices in Exile and Sanctuary on Sea.

The theme this year is Imagine. The Refugee Week website explains:

‘To imagine’ means to picture something you can’t currently see. To step beyond the current moment, and perceive something different. Rather than being a flight away from reality, imagination is sometimes the best response to it – the only way to get us somewhere new.

Maybe you’ll imagine a future where we’ve found new ways to care for our planet, transcend borders or protect human life.

Or perhaps you’ll imagine what it’s like to have to leave your family behind, or what your hometown might look like to someone walking its streets for the first time.

How can I get involved?

Refugee Week is calling on us all to try out one of eight Simple Acts, each with lots of resources for how to get involved:

1. Imagine
2. Watch a Film
3. Read a Book about Exile
4. Tell a Joke
5. Take a Tour
6. Thank your Climate Justice Hero
7. Share a Song
8. Join the Movement

Not only that, but they have an entire calendar of online events for the first ever Digital Refugee Week!

If you’d like to keep your support closer to home, the details of the local celebrations for Refugee Week can be found here – including a flash fiction competition and a live music night.

And because lockdown means you may be stuck inside, but you can also go anywhere digitally, you can attend the Migration Matters Festival in Sheffield live from your living room, with theatre, podcasts, music, workshops and more.