18th - 24th June 2012 is Refugee Week. Its purpose is to deliver positive educational messages that counter fear, ignorance and negative stereotypes of refugees, through arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK and promote understanding about the reasons why people seek sanctuary.
Events to support Refugee Week are taking place across Bedfordshire in the following ways:
Monday 18th June:
Launch of Refugee Week Refugee - Look out for banner on silver street in the Harpur Square shopping area.
Tuesday 19th June:
All day: There will be a market stall near the Bedford central library.
7.00pm: An Evening with Damien Lewis Bedford Central Library Tuesday 19th June 2012 - 7.00pm
Juice bar and light refreshments from 6.00pm
Free tickets available at Bedford Central Library
Damien Lewis has spent twenty years reporting from war, disaster and conflict zones around the world, chiefly as a TV journalist but also writing for the quality press. He has written a dozen non-fiction and fictional books, topping bestseller lists worldwide, and is published in some thirty
languages. He was recently chosen as one of Britain’s ‘twenty favourite authors’ for the
Government’s World Book Day, and his books have won a number of prestigious awards. Two of his books are being made into feature films, with a number of others presently under development, and one of his books is being produced as a stage play.
Some examples of his collaborations include: Little Daughter with Zoya Phan,
Tears of the Desert: one woman's true story of surviving the horrors of Darfur
with Halima Bashir, Slave with Mende Nazer.
Thursday 21st June:
At the University’s Luton, Park Square, Campus Centre.
Head of the Department of Applied Social Studies Professor Ravi Kohli, will discuss his work with Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.
Junior Badila, an asylum seeker from the Congo will share his extraordinary story.
The British Red Cross will look at the difficult yet rewarding process of tracking down and reuniting family members who have been separated.
The film In This World, a story about two asylum seeking making their way to London from Pakistan, will be shown and there will be a chance to discuss the film with screenwriter Tony Grisoni, who also wrote the screenplay for the classic film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Jonathan Ellis from City of Sanctuary will look at how Luton and Bedford can be sanctuaries for those seeking asylum. City of Sanctuary is a movement to build a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
Sunday 24th June: 12pm:
Family Football Fun Day Alexander Sports Centre, Sidney Road, Bedford. 5-a-side football tournament (adults only) plus a full programme of activities for children (and mums!) to ensure fun for all the family. Activities will include beat the keeper, hit the cross bar and other challenges. Please contact Bob Bridle on 01234 791145 to register, or email bob.bridle@bpha.org.uk.
No comments:
Post a Comment