There are a number of Refugee Week 2021 events organised in partnership with the University for you to get involved in:
Sky and Ground Online Film Screening and Q&A Panel – Thursday 17 June, 19:00-21:45
Join Reading Refugee Support Group for an online screening of the critically acclaimed documentary Sky and Ground, telling the story of a Syrian family’s 3,000 mile journey to find sanctuary.
The film will be followed by a Q&A Panel with special guests including Lord Alf Dubs, Professor Ruth Evans, Zainab Koroma and Waheeda Soomro discussing the topics raised in the film.
Presented in partnership with Reading Film Theatre and Deloitte Reading.
Find out more about Refugee Week events and book your tickets.
Careful Listening – Friday 18 June
RRSG presents Careful Listening, an art project where refugees and asylum seekers listened to immersive sounds and discussed social issues that the sounds inspired them to raise.
Presented in partnership with University of Reading and Ultra-red.
Reading Community Cup, World Refugee Day Football Tournament – Sunday 20 June
To mark International Refugee Day, we’re launching the inaugural Reading Community Cup!
Bringing together Berkshire’s only refugee football team, Sanctuary Strikers FC, along with teams from the University of Reading, Thames Valley Police and Reading West, the competition aims to promote unity and integration through the international language of football.
Venue: D Pitches (located behind the dome), Madejski Stadium, Shooters Way, Reading, RG2 0FL
Time: 10:00–15:00
Teams: Giving Back United (UoR), Reading West, Sanctuary Strikers FC, Thames Valley Police
The Reading Community Cup is created in partnership with Reading FC Community Trust, University of Reading, Reading City of Sanctuary and Reading Refugee Support Group.
Sanctuary Café Walk ‘n’ Talk group – Wednesday 23 June 14:00–15:30
Refugees are welcome on campus! We are excited to launch our first Sanctuary Café Walk ‘n’ Talk Group for local sanctuary seekers, staff and students to meet informally on campus:
- Get to know others from diverse cultural backgrounds
- Refugees can practise English
- Learn more about studying at the University
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this will be a Walk ‘n’ Talk group in campus spaces outdoors.
We will be exploring walking routes on campus, using the Wellbeing Map of Whiteknights Campus produced by Reading University Students’ Union (RUSU). Sanctuary seekers’ hot drinks and transport costs will be met.
Places are limited, but we plan to run monthly Sanctuary Café meet-ups on campus from September 2021.
For more information, please contact:
Ruth Evans, r.evans@reading.ac.uk
For the full programme of Refugee Week 2021 events in Reading, please see the RRSG website.
Reading City of Sanctuary Coffee Bank initiative
We are delighted to support the Reading City of Sanctuary Coffee Bank initiative in cafés on campus. Instead of ordering your usual cappuccino, buy two drinks and leave one in the bank to support local sanctuary seekers and Reading City of Sanctuary!
Maggie Filipova-Rivers, Reading City of Sanctuary Manager, said:
“We are thrilled to see yet another brilliant initiative to be launched by the University of Reading, an initiative which will facilitate contact among members of our diverse community and ultimately foster an environment of understanding and welcome for people fleeing war and persecution. Thank you to all for the hard work getting this set up in the most unprecedented of circumstances”
Further information about Refugee Week 2021
Read more about Refugee Week on the #DiversityReading blog.
Read more about the University of Reading’s City of Sanctuary activities.