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Making Peace in Brum this Autumn
Photo: Elliot Brown. A round up of peace-making events happening autumn 2016 in Birmingham: all are free, so find one that interests you and get involved! Film: This is Exile Thursday 8th September 19:30-21:00 at Two Snowhill “Birmingham, Wythall and Bourneville Amnesty International groups are presenting a film screening of “This is Exile” about refugees,…
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Refugee Week 2016
Refugee Week kicks off in Birmingham tomorrow (Sat 18th June) and runs right through to 2nd July. It aims to welcome refugees and asylum seekers into our community, and celebrate the wonderful contribution they make. Celebrating Sanctuary have organised a programme of events: Saturday 18th June – The festival kicks off for Refugee Week with the…
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Global Peace Index 2016 Published
Today saw the 2016 Global Peace Index published by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The index rates countries across the world on 23 indicators of peace, ranging from ‘weapons imports /exports’ or ‘terrorism impact’, to ‘relations with neighbours’. You can see an interactive version of the map here. The index has been going for…
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Exhibition – Displacement: Stories of Hope & Humanity
A free exhibition of artwork and poetry exploring human stories of displacement. 11 January – 19 February at Peace Hub Displacement affects millions of people worldwide, and though these are often times of great suffering, helplessness and hardship, stories of hope and humanity do emerge. This exhibition looks to uncover the stories of compassion, the camaraderie, and…
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Birmingham Declared a City of Sanctuary
Birmingham has today officially been declared a City of Sanctuary: making an official commitment to be a place of welcome to refugees & asylum seekers. According to the Birmingham Mail, the formal ceremony took place at 11am on Friday 4th December at Birmingham’s Town Hall. Councillor Shafiq Shah officially made a commitment to make Birmingham…
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It’s our 1st Birthday!
One year ago today, Peace Hub first opened it’s doors to the public. It’s been a busy year, full of awareness raising and taking action for peace & justice. Over the course of our first year, we’ve: Challenged the arms trade, lobbying the foreign secretary to embargo arms to Egypt and other repressive regimes. Supported…
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Share the Surplus: a Success!
Many thanks to everyone from Walsall Road Allotments, Knowle Road Allotments and the local Quaker allotment grower who generously donated to Share the Surplus. On Thursday morning we delivered potatoes, courgettes, marrows and runner beans to Handsworth Welcome, who cooked, served and distributed them ion Friday lunchtime to Asylum Seekers & Refugees. Allotment growing is…
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Compassion vs Scapegoating
We’ve recently recieved a circular email highlighting the low state pension, and laudibly calling for it to be raised, but sadly blaming the situation on refugees. It’s a timely example of the negative attitudes and misconceptions faced by asylum seekers and refugees. People are understandably worried about pensioner poverty, just as they are about jobs,…
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Keep taking action for Refugees & Asylum Seekers
Refugee Week is over, but there are still plenty of opportunities to celebrate the contribution that refugees make, and take action to make Brum a welcoming city. Our ‘Be the Friendly Face of Brum’ theme continues for another two weeks – so you’ve got plenty of time to pop in, take our Big Asylum Quiz,…
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Refugee Week 15-21 June
Refugee week begins this coming Monday – and there are lots of ways to get involved! Refugee Week happens across the UK every June: throughout the week there are arts, cultural and educational events and activities that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK and promote better understanding of why people seek sanctuary. There…