Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Refugee Week takes place every year around World Refugee Day (20th June) and has since grown into a global movement. This year's theme is 'community as a superpower'.

As a University of Sanctuary that supports a number of refugee and asylum seeker students, Refugee Week is a great opportunity to bring our people together to celebrate our diverse and inspiring community. This year we've got a whole host of activity at the University, kicking off on Monday 16 June with a creative workshop in the Library exploring 'Words of hope in community and education'.

The workshop will use poetry and creative activities to support students from displaced backgrounds, helping them feel included, confident and visible. It offers a welcoming space for Sanctuary students, Warm Welcome scholars and CARA-supported individuals to come together, alongside other members of our university community, to share their stories, explore identity and build connections through writing and art.

The event, led by our inspiring facilitators Mir Abdullah Miri, PhD researcher on Warm Welcome Scholarship and Lecturer in the Department of Education, and Joy Cranham, Lecturer, Department of Education, will feature two main activities:

  • poetry writing
  • creating a 'Tree of Hope' communal installation that will be showcased in the library throughout Refugee Week.

The workshop will end with a keynote speech related to the theme (speaker to be confirmed).

Mir Abdullah Miri, said:

At its heart, this event is about more than creativity. It’s about belonging, purpose and hope. It invites our university community to come together to foster more inclusive environments, while giving refugee-background students a meaningful platform to be heard.

No experience with poetry is required - this will be a fun, creative, warm and collective space to explore ideas as a community - all are welcome!

Register for the workshop here

Get involved

After the workshop, the Tree of Hope will be on display in the library foyer throughout Refugee Week. If you aren't able to attend the event, please visit the library where you can add your own words of hope to our installation. We will also be sharing an online Tree of Hope for members of our community who are not on campus that week but would still love to get involved and show their support.

Look out for more details in the coming weeks.