Support STAR Week of Welcome for Refugees

STARSTAR Welcome Week, 2nd-8 th March 2015 – Liverpool, Exeter, Warwick, Birmingham, Queen Mary, Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Cambridge, Bristol, UCL, Manchester, Cardiff.
Support the national week of action to say “Refugees Welcome Here”! Over the next few weeks 13,000 STAR students are staging events across the country to say Refugees are Welcome Here!  These events include gigs, theatre shows, craft sessions and more. See the attached programme for details of the events which have already finalised  or for further details contact: students @ star-network.org.uk.

STAR exists to make sure that the UK is a welcoming place for refugees and we will be taking action to do just that in March 2015!

There has been a lot of negative coverage of asylum in the news recently and we expect it to increase in the run up to the election. In STAR Welcome Week we are going to counter this by spreading the message, “Refugees are Welcome Here” and by telling the British public the truth about asylum. We need to challenge misconceptions so that we can build public support for humane protection policies and be a welcoming community for those fleeing war, torture and oppression.

Up and down the country, in universities and communities, STARs will be putting on fun events, getting out into the street to talk to the public and spreading the message on social media.

There are 13,000 members of STAR and by speaking with One Voice for One Week our message will be heard.

“Refugees Welcome Here!”
Actions for Welcome week:

•Get out there with a simple quiz to educate people about the basics of asylum. It’s is a fantastic way to get a few key facts across to hundreds of people, making a real impact.

•Organise events on campus and in your community to reach people who don’t usually engage with refugee issues. This could be anything from music nights, food festivals to family fun days or even street parties!

•Social media campaign – we can reach thousands of people through Twitter and Facebook to say #RefugeesWelcomeHere! Get your camera out and start posting, tweeting and sharing!

Check out our brilliant Welcome Week Action Pack to find out all you need to know to put on successful events and change minds about refugees and asylum!

And most importantly get out there and share the message!

“Refugees Welcome Here!”

A taste of what’s on Welcome Week 2015:

As a warm-up for Welcome Week, our amazing Cardiff STARs are getting ready to put on their annual Refugee Rhythms! Expect live music including Afrocluster, Perkie and Salih, and food from all over the world. Our STARs in Manchester are running a craft session making a human chain representing the people who are seeking refugee protection in the UK, and the many ordinary people who want to welcome them.

During Welcome Week, STARs all over the country are putting on actions stalls, film nights and pub quizzes. Warwick STAR is planning an ice&fire performance and our STARs in Birmingham are getting ready to quiz the public in the city centre.

In the wind-down of Welcome Week, Sheffield STAR will get busy screening Jamal Osman’s On the refugee road: my story, holding a pub quiz, and even hosting their very own Asylum Basics Course, while Leeds is putting on a STAR Fest!

Check out our Welcome Week Programme for the complete line-up of events!

So just get ready to say “Refugees Welcome Here!”

http://www.star-network.org.uk/index.php/news/comments/star_welcome_week_2nd-8th_march/