Refugee Week 2023 was everything it promised to be, and we are already looking forward to 2024! In the meantime, here’s our 2023 events page – a whole week of events and activities which had compassion at its heart!
Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of people seeking sanctuary
It’s been running in the UK since 1998. This year is its 25th Anniversary. The theme is compassion and throughout the week we will be celebrating what compassion looks like in action.
Last year, we worked in partnership with St Mary the Virgin (Church in Wales) Primary School. It was moving, emotional, energetic and fun! This year, we are building on this to bring you something even more amazing!
This programme of events shares some of the things we are doing together but, as a School of Sanctuary, St Mary’s School will be engaging in so many other activities and learning opportunities through the week.
At the heart of their celebrations is the launch of their video poem, ‘A Zig Zag Journey’ which was filmed around Butetown. It movingly expresses the questions and anxieties that children seeking refuge may experience, and provides a compassionate response from the children of St Mary’s School.
After the premiere, the video will be launched on social media. Let’s hope it goes viral! Or, rather, let’s hope that compassion goes viral. Imagine a world where compassion was as easily passed on as a common cold. What kind of world would that create? What kind of epidemic would we have? Imagine a pandemic of love, changing the world, changing lives.
During Refugee Week we also celebrate Windrush Day and we are pleased to share the interactive performance, A Journey through Butetown, which tells the story of Tiger Bay through the character of Betty Campbell. Towards the end of the week, we also celebrate The Great Get Together, inspired by Jo Cox, and we’ve been pleased to be part of this network in Cardiff for more than a year.
So, please join us for a week of Compassion!
South Cardiff Ministry Area 