Refugee Week 2024 will run from 16th – 22nd June 2024. The theme this year is Home. Watch this space for more details to come. 

The University of Winchester have a vibrant programme of events lined up for Refugee Week 2024. See here for more details.

There are lots of events running regionally and nationally. See the Refugee Week events calendar here for more details.

The theme for Refugee Week 2024 is “Our Home”. From the places we gather to share meals to our collective home, planet earth: everyone is invited to celebrate what our Our Home means to them.

Home can be a place of refuge, a feeling or a state of mind. It can be found in smells, tastes and sounds. From the clothes we wear to the words we grew up with. It’s in food, music and arts. It’s in our cultures and in our landscapes.

Home can be more than one place and finding it can be a journey, as it is for so many of us who have to leave our countries and rebuild our lives. Sometimes we can find home in a single person. Other times it’s in a whole community. And often, it’s in a single gesture of care and welcome.

Please join us this Refugee Week in making Winchester feel like home for people seeking sanctuary. Please help to make Winchester a City of Sanctuary.

What can you do?

Simple Acts are everyday actions we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections in our communities. Here are a few ideas of simple things you can do to make a real difference!

• Watch a film at home (alone or with friends & family)
• Organise a film screening (either at a local venue or at work!)
• Attend a film event, see What’s On near you
• Read a book
• Theme your next book club read and/ or organise a book exchange
• Work at a bookshop or a library? Curate a book display!
• For those short on time: Share the orange heart emoji on your social media.
• Share Refugee Week resources (e.g. Our Home artwork, thunderclap, simple acts etc.)
• What message would you like to send to welcome people seeking sanctuary?  Share your message online using #RefugeeWeek #SimpleActs #OurHome, together let’s fill social media with messages of care and solidarity.
• Take part in City of Sanctuary’s Speak Up for Sanctuary
• Have a chat! Say hello to someone new in your neighbourhood, workplace, school or community. Ask how they’re doing. Lament or celebrate the weather. It might just make their day!
• Join a befriending service
• Volunteer in your local community
• Share or swap a favourite recipe
• Learn a new dish! You can take it one step further and learn about the migratory journeys of different ingredients and recipes throughout time
• Host or join a cooking event or class (find What’s On and search ‘Food and Drink’ in the categories).
• Step into solidarity as we team up with the Jo Cox Foundation for The Great Walk Together, in celebration of Refugee Week and the Great Get Together.
• Organise a friendly match
• Partner with local sports and/ or refugee group
• Organise a special event (e.g. competition, film screening events, dance shows etc).
• Join Winchester City of Sanctuary as a supporter, partner or volunteer!