Thanks for your interest in Refugee Week!
Over 450 diverse events took place around the UK during Refugee Week 2007 - from lectures to festivals, live art installations to football tournaments, the diversity of events marking Refugee Week was amazing.
This page highlights just a few of these events - you can view all events from 2007 on our Events Calendar
Refugees Footprints in the Sand
Footprints in the Sand gave people an artistic look at refugee’s journeys from their home country to the UK, as they walked their route on a giant world map.
A giant world map, 10 metres by 8 metres, was spread out and refugees from the local community walked their journey to the UK with paint on their feet, ‘foot printing’ their journey. Organisers of the event detailed people’s journeys and recording their stories. The event was aimed at both refugees and non refugees.
The Truth about Asylum
During Refugee Week pupils from a selection of schools across Wales came together to learn the truth about asylum seekers and refugees. The event, which took place at St Fagans National History Museum on the 19th June, saw sixty children from schools in Newport, Swansea, Wrexham and Cardiff come together to take part in a day of activities to bust the myths about asylum seekers and refugees and learn about the valuable contribution they make to life in Wales and the UK. The event began with a tour of the new Oriel 1 Gallery at St Fagans National History Museum which included the Wall of Languages exhibition. Children took part in workshops led by Acting Out and the Croeso project before watching a performance of Floating Doors- a play based on a true story about a young asylum seeker.
Celebrating Sanctuary London
Celebrating Sanctuary was a day long festival which gathered together established and emerging refugee musicians, dancers and artists to celebrate the positive cultural contribution of refugees to the UK.
The festival was attended by 22'000 people and performers included Somalia’s powerful and dynamic female vocalist Maryam Mursal, Palestinian Hip-Hop group DAM and also The Destroyers, a Balkan band with their take on traditional arrangements from Eastern Europe.
Stalls selling mouth-watering dishes and thirst quenching drinks from all over the world were available in the festival marketplace alongside information stalls from Refugee Week, its partner agencies and others.
Young People's Debate
Schoolchildren from a number of schools in Birmingham were invited by the Young People's Parliament to hold a debate on the motion:
'People whose application for asylum have failed are not refugees. They should return to their home countries and if they refuse to go they should be forced to leave the UK through deportation'.
The young people heard evidence from a range of speakers and then debated. The students were encouraged to think about appropriate actions they could take through school or within their communities.
The Village Storytelling Choir
The Village Storytelling Choir, based in Pollok, Scotland, presented an evening of traditional songs from around the world at the Tron Theatre. All of the songs were contributed by members of the choir and were arranged by Noel Bridgeman of the Paragon Ensemble. The choir were accompanied with live music by Iranian musicians - Ninian Perry on the double bass, Pariya Salehi on the santur and Mahmood Farzan on the tombak and vocals.
Refugee Week Poster Competition
The British Red Cross organised a poster competition for young people in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire, to raise awareness of the problems faced by refugees in the UK and give young people the chance to express their views through art. Young people aged 6 to 18 years old were able to enter up to three posters under the title "Celebrating Refugee Week" either on their own, through their schools or youth clubs. An exhibition of the competition entries was held at Waterstones, sharing the work of young people with members of the public.
Refugees into Teaching: re-training and re-employing refugee teachers
A conference aiming to encourage dialogue between those responsible for selection and recruitment decisions and those seeking to become fully qualified teachers was held on London. The event was aimed at refugee and other teachers, employers and advisors, senior management in schools, head teachers, CPD coordinators, school governors, local authority staff, school workforce advisors, teacher trainers, and those with an interest in the topic. It explored issues surrounding diversity in the school workforce and links to individual pupil achievement as well as drawing on lessons learnt from employing refugees in the National Health Service.
Refugee Week Launch Event
The national launch of Refugee Week 2007 took place in Birmingham from the Celebrating Sanctuary Festival, a one-day, free open-air festival in Victoria and Chamberlain Squares in the city centre. The event was opened by the Lord Mayor, and a range of speakers including Nicholas Sagovski(Canon of Westminster) presented various perspectives on asylum and refugees in the UK. The day focused on live music, dance and children’s performances, and a diverse range of activities for everyone.
There were over 20 refugee community and refugee support organisations providing interactive displays and talking about their work with asylum seekers & refugees.
As ever, Celebrating Sanctuary turned out to be a lively and fun family event involving all communities.
Common Ground - conFAB
A cast of third year students at Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow worked to create a play exploring issues of identity, the reality of seeking asylum in Scotland, and community spirit. The play was performed to primary school children from the local area and a variety of youth groups, followed by workshops and facilitated discussion.
Encounters Photo Competition
Between April and May the Refugee Week UK Team organised a photography competition on the theme of Encounters. The competition was won jointly by Alan Gignoux and Shamin Shettuba. The winning images, and shortlisted entries, were displayed in an exhibition during Refugee Week at the Nolias gallery, Southwark, London.
The aim of the Photography Competition was to continue to explore new ways and forms of reflecting and relating to the refugee experience and to reach out to a wider audience.
Refugee World Cup Final
The Swansea World Stars went head to head with the Newport Sudanese Community Association in the Refugee World Cup Final during Refugee Week in Wales. The finalists beat off tough competition from the Kurdish Welfare Association, Eritrean Community, Zimbabwean Warriors and the Darfur Community in Wales in the play-offs to get to the final which took place in Tredegar Park, Newport. Banire Sy Savane, player for the Swansea World Stars said:
“The Refugee World Cup is a brilliant opportunity for refugee communities to come together to share their love of football. The Swansea World Stars trained hard during the tournament and were confident that we could win the final.”
The winning team received prize money totalling £500.
