Refugee Week is an annual series of events taking place every June, celebrating the strength, resilience, and contributions of people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
This year’s theme, 'Community as a Superpower’, highlighted the extraordinary power of everyday acts of kindness and connection in creating a more welcoming and inclusive society.
Raising awareness of the impact of age assessments
On 16 June, our team from the National Counter Trafficking Centre held a roundtable discussion about the challenges experienced by children who are trafficked and then have their ages disputed. Hosted by Baroness Lister of Burtersett, we heard from colleagues and professionals from across the child protection sector about the current impact of the age assessment process and how it could be improved.
During the event, we shared an audio recording created by young people supported through the Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) Service where they shared their opinions and experiences of the age assessment process and the impact it had on their emotional, physical, and mental health.
Our CEO, Lynn Perry, also published an opinion piece in the Big Issue to urge the government to take a more compassionate approach to immigration and asylum.
We urge the government to take a compassionate approach to immigration and asylum, recognising that all children are first and foremost in need of protection, and prioritising their rights and welfare in policy, and making sure that these children are treated the same way we would want our own children to be if they found themselves alone, after fleeing danger.
Lynn Perry
Barnardo's CEO
Welcoming Afghan families to Rugby
On the 18 June, our Rugby Children and Family Centres hosted a Refugee Week celebration led by EQuIP, a charity that works to combat discrimination. The event was held to invite a community of Afghan families that have recently gained refugee status and have settled in Rugby.
Families were invited to bring and share food, and some of the mums used a local education centre to cook food together and bring it across to our hall. The children took advantage of the lovely weather to play in our outdoor play area, while the Rugby Mayor, Cllr Barbara Brown, was invited to address the families. She formally welcomed everyone to the town and a translator was on hand to make sure her words were understood.
We welcomed everyone to our centre and shared more info on the support they could receive. In the next three months, we’ll be having both English as a Second Language (ESOL) and Family ESOL courses starting, as well as ongoing drop-ins alongside the Warwickshire County Council Migrant Support Team, to make sure everyone settles into their new community.
Sharing ‘The Hopeful Journey of Patience’
In 2023, we supported four young people who had arrived in UK as unaccompanied children seeking sanctuary to create a comic book to shed light on their experiences and to help other children with similar experiences feel like they’re not alone.
To design ‘The Hopeful Journey of Patience’, the young people worked with a group of talented artists from Penificent, a social enterprise that creates comic books that tackle difficult topics and social issues.
One of the young people shared why the comic book was so important: “People come here and feel completely lost and don’t know what to do or what to expect. They may have left their country to flee war.
It is important because people come here, especially children and they don’t recognise or know anything in the UK. It is all new to them, but very scary. They won’t know who people are, who will help, what will happen, all they know is that they are frightened and nervous about what is going to happen next.
This book should help them to understand and feel the support and guidance from us through our words.”
During Refugee Week, we held a session with professionals to reshare the comic as an important tool that could be used to comfort and support more children and young people seeking sanctuary.
Supporting young people to have their voices heard
We also supported three of our SEEN Ambassadors to share their thoughts on this year’s theme of Community as a Superpower.
The power of keeping family recipes alive through generations
Family recipes can play a big role in shaping your identity and helping you to stay connected with your past, but their importance is sometimes only remembered after they’ve been lost. Our Grandmother’s Hands project, led by our SEEN Centre, aimed to remind young people of the deep personal connections they share with food by creating a space for different generations to come together, cook, and share their own treasured family recipes. We spoke to Christine, Systems Change Manager for SEEN, to find out more.
Children seeking asylum
Under international law, the UK has a duty to offer asylum to people who flee their own countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution.
Families seeking asylum have fled wars or famines in search of a better life - and they have often faced poor health, poverty and hunger on their way to the UK. Despite their parents' best efforts, the children often suffer most and can be incredibly vulnerable.
Why it’s important to understand young people’s identities and lived experiences
Have you ever wondered what children and young people see when they look around themselves? Where do they find purpose and joy? What makes them feel a sense of safety and belonging? And how can we improve the world around them by better understanding their complex identities and lived experiences? The ‘Life Through My Lens’ project sets out to answer these questions and aims to encourage a more culturally aware approach in children’s services to improve the support we offer to children, young people and families.