Refugee Week 2025

Refugee Week is here, running until Sunday 22nd June 2025. We’re looking forward to joining this festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. This year’s theme is

Community as a Superpower

This chimes with a lot of what we’ve been thinking about recently at Peace Hub – community and connection at a local level, as a building block for making change on a big scale.

Community is the incredible everyday. Ordinary and extraordinary. Simple acts of shared generosity. Kindness multiplied to become an unstoppable force! It’s amazing what we can do when we move together towards a shared goal. So let’s redefine and rediscover our collective power to shape hopeful futures and begin by practicing, celebrating and rehearsing it every day.

We were delighted to welcome people to our film night alongside Birmingham, City of Sanctuary, on Tues 17th. There are still plenty of events to get involved in this week:

World Refugee Day Celebration

6:30-8:00pm, Thursday 19th June
at The Exchange, Centenary Sq

Join University of Birmingham for a special evening in partnership with Birmingham-based organisations supporting refugees. Through stories, music and art, we’ll celebrate the contributions of refugees and stand together in advocating for their rights and protection worldwide.

Restore Annual Celebration

7:15pm, Friday 20th June
at St Martin in the Bullring Church, B5 5BB

Restore, a project of Birmingham Churches Together, works with refugees and asylum seekers facilitating befriending in the West Midlands. This celebration will gather people together to hear about the work of Restore, enjoy refreshments and meet new people!

Saturday 21st June

Refugees Welcome March

11am meet at Moseley Exchange

A walk of welcome with messages of solidarity, arriving at…

Celebrating Sanctuary

12-6pm at Midlands Arts Centre

This year’s event will bring music and arts from around the world, showcasing the work of highly acclaimed, UK based refugee and migrant artists, from: Guinea Bissau, Kurdistan, Sudan and more to be announced!

Refugee Week Takeover at Symphony Hall

1-4pm Saturday 22nd June
in the Jennifer Blackwell space

With the support of B:Music, Celebrating Sanctuary’s annual World Music and Arts Festival returns to the iconic Symphony Hall. Bringing people together to celebrate and experience the culture, arts and stories of refugees and migrant communities through a universal appreciation of music, joy and life.

Celebrating CommUnity

12:30-6:30pm Saturday 14th June
at the Warehouse, Digbeth

Join Birmingham Friends of the Earth for an afternoon of crafts, discussion and celebration. During the event, we will be exploring how people power is taking on businesses to stop human rights abuses and environmental destruction within supply chains. There will be activities for all ages from painting a forest mural, writing to decision makers to making trees for our 3D rainforest.