International Refugee Week is an annual event that began in the UK and now takes place worldwide to raise awareness and celebrate the contribution of refugees. This year, the 25 anniversary takes place between the 19 and 25 of June and the overriding theme is compassion. The organisers are inviting you to celebrate what compassion looks like in action. The underlying purpose of Refugee Week in the UK is to provide refugees with a platform to share their stories, and sharing stories is at the heart of what TogetherintheUK (TGIUK) is about.
During Refugee Week, TGIUK will share some lived refugee stories from several authors in our anthology of migrant writing, Hear Our Stories. Still, today, we would like to support Refugee Week’s call to action for everyone of all ages and backgrounds to learn and share how arts and culture can help widen our circles of compassion. We are delighted to share links to the Refugee Week website so you, your family, your school, and your business can get involved.
Simple Acts – find out about everyday quick, easy, and fun acts we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections in our communities.
Events – to attend any of the hundreds of independently organised events across the UK every year or share details of your event. Everyone is invited, whether you’re an individual, school, charity, arts organisation, local authority, library, business, refugee community organisation, or faith group.
Student and Educators – find out how you can join in the efforts (and fun) of hardworking teachers and educators who every year plan fantastic activities to celebrate Refugee Week. These help children and young people develop a greater understanding and compassion towards refugee experiences that their students can carry into their adult lives.
Social Media – we all use social media, so why not find out how you can use your platform and help spread the word about Refugee Week on your social media channels?
Story Sharing
One of the initiatives Refugee Week runs, which really excites us at TGIUK, is sharing your own migration story – Everyone has a migration story; how will you tell yours? Sharing the lived stories of migrants and refugees in the UK is at the heart of everything we do at TogetherintheUK (TGIUK). We strongly believe that storytelling is the most powerful way to share migrants’ experiences enabling a personal and emotional connection between the storyteller and their audiences. Through sharing stories, we can break down stereotypes and misconceptions that some people may have about migration and migrants.
On the Refugee Week website, you can read how you can write and share your story, your parents’ story or even your grandparents’ story of migrating to the UK. They encourage you to share your story to encourage others who might now be faced with the challenge of fleeing their home and starting a new life in a new country. As well as sharing your story with Refugee Week and the sites they suggest on their web pages, you can also share your story with TogetherintheUK. You can send your story to us, or we can speak to you directly and write your story with you, and then we can feature them on our website. We are publishing our first anthology of migrant stories, Hear Our Stories, in August 2023 in partnership with Victorina Press.
To share your story with TogetherintheUK, email Teresa Norman on tgiuk@togetherintheuk.co.uk
Don’t forget to share what you do on social media using #SimpleActs #CompassionIntoAction #RefugeeWeek #TogetherintheUK #TGIUK
