Mid and South West Wales Cohesion team:
The theme for Refugee Week 2021, which takes places from June 14th to 20th, is ‘We cannot walk alone’, this is inspired by Martin Luther King’s historic ‘I have a Dream’ speech in 1963, whereby he speaks about the importance of unity and equality for all and how every single one of us has a part to play in ensuring current and future generations are treated fairly.
The challenges of the past year have exposed the deep inequalities between us, including in housing, income and access to healthcare. But the crisis has also shown how interconnected we are – that the well-being of each of us depends on the welfare, safety and hard work of others. We are part of a shared ‘us’.
As part of Refugee Week 2021 the Mid and South West Wales Cohesion team are encouraging everyone to take part in simple acts of solidarity – these are everyday actions we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections in our communities.
We are now asking you to celebrate our refugee families wherever you live. Whether you build your own event or activity around a simple act or just take part during the week itself, you’ll be part of a movement of people everywhere taking small steps to create a big change.
Each of the Four Local Authorities in our region (Carmarthenshire County Council, Ceredigion County Council, Pembrokeshire County Council and Powys County Council) have been successfully hosting refugee families from Syria for over 5 years and are proud of what an incredible difference the scheme has made to the adults and children fleeing from war and violence. Syrian Refugee Coordinator for Powys, Megan Lewis tells us more:
“Since 2016 Powys County Council has been offering sanctuary to refugees as part of the Government’s Refugee Resettlement programme. It was truly heart-warming to see Syrian families and the local community come together for such a celebratory event. The afternoon workshop and the evening concert brought smiles and laughter from all ages. The Welfare Hall in Ystradgynlais regularly provides opportunities for settled refugee families to meet and socialise with the wider community and we look forward to supporting similar events in the coming months, now that ‘lockdown’ is lifting at last.”
We would also like to take this opportunity to invite you to watch our short film, produced before the pandemic struck. The film showcases two refugee led events in Ceredigion and Powys, we are confident you will agree that this film demonstrates the wonderful work being done by our refugee communities and celebrates the inclusive and friendly nature of our region.
#RefugeeWeek2021 #SimpleActs For more information on how you can get involved in celebrating Refugee Week 2021 – visit https://refugeeweek.org.uk/
