Winchester City of Sanctuary

06/07/2026

There are lots of fantastic resources at the libraries across Hampshire celebrating South Asian Heritage Month. Commemorate, Educate and Celebrate South Asian culture in our communities.

Celebrate. Commemorate. Educate. South Asian Heritage Month is a nationally observed programme bringing communities, institutions and individuals together to explore, celebrate and deepen understanding of South Asian heritage across the UK and beyond.

Browse our bookshelves on BorrowBox: https://hampshire.borrowbox.com/product-group/48636/south-asian-heritage-month
and our catalogue: https://hampshire.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?QRY=SVL(JUL26SAH)&SORTS=SQL_RANDOM&QRYTEXT=South%20Asian%20Heritage%20Month&NRECS=12

06/07/2026

Check out Southampton Mela Festival. This fantastic free family friendly festival has been running for over two decades. It attracts international artists with a fusion of music, dance and family activities. The Southampton Mela Festival dates for 2026 are Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th July, from 12pm on both days. Follow Southampton Mela Festival for more details.

06/07/2026

Join SWVG and Southampton Stand Up To Racism for their Unity in the Community Refugee Celebration on Sunday 12th July in Southampton. Details below. Please share with others and show your support for refugees in our local community.

Refugee Week celebrations continue into July with a 'Unity in the Community' march around Southampton this Sunday! Everyone welcome
Southampton Stand Up To Racism

06/07/2026

We are currently looking for Welcome Walk volunteers to support our Welcome Walk project over the coming months. We will be running training over the summer so please get in touch.

If you would be interested in leading or supporting a Welcome Walk for people seeking sanctuary locally in Wi******er, please contact us at [email protected] to express your interest and we can share more details with you. We are looking for volunteers willing to commit to running sessions twice a month. Ideally long-term volunteers as Welcome Walk leads will need to undertake first aid training.

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We are currently looking for several Welcome Walk volunteers to help us to run Welcome Walks locally to support people seeking sanctuary to navigate their way around our local area. If you are interested in volunteering with us in this new role please contact us via [email protected] to find out more.

Experience of supporting people seeking sanctuary is desirable but not essential. We ask that you are fit and well as a volunteer to enable you to safely lead others on walks.

We will provide first aid training to our walk leads and safeguarding training to all our volunteers.

We actively encourage people with lived experience of sanctuary to apply for this role, especially if you have been here for some time already and are familiar with the local area. We are looking for two walk leads (to coordinate the walks and support admin) and several other volunteers to support them so we have enough volunteers to rotate and support each other. This volunteer role should be 6 hours maximum a month, based in the city centre and will depend on need locally. Ideally, volunteers will be available around 10-1pm on walk days but we can be flexible around school holidays as we understand people have commitments. Volunteer days are flexible and to be confirmed depending on volunteer availability.

20/06/2026

This World Refugee Day and this Refugee Week a small reminder that there are some very simple acts you can do this weekend and beyond to show your support for people seeking sanctuary everywhere and to make a difference.

If we do nothing then nothing changes.

If we do something, even something small, it can make all the difference.

Simple acts have the power to change lives.

The theme this year for Refugee Week 2026 is courage. At a time when some seek to divide and blame, Refugee Week 2026 calls us to come together and share the courage to welcome, to stand for what we believe in, and to celebrate culture and community – to be joyful, imagine new possibilities, dream, heal, and connect.

Courage isn’t always loud or bold. It can be found in simple acts: opening your door to a neighbour, trying new food, reading a book, or watching a film that changes your view of the world. It can be speaking up, asking for help, sharing your story – or simply having the courage to be yourself.

Through art, stories, and community, we celebrate the courage that lives within us all – and how connection helps it grow.

20/06/2026

Today is World Refugee Day. It is intended to honour the courage and resilience of refugees all over the world. We stand in solidarity with refugees from all over the world who are forced to leave their homes, their communities and forced to begin again.

The theme this Refugee Week is courage. It takes huge courage to leave your country, family, friends, loved ones, home, job, pets, community and/or school and so much more. It takes huge courage to begin again.

Thank you to Together With Refugees for bringing people together to advocate for the rights of refugees both in and outside of Refugee Week, and for calling for and reminding everyone of the importance of fairness, kindness, compassion and empathy.

Today is World Refugee Day.

Nobody chooses to be a refugee. Nobody chooses to leave their home, their community, or the life they know behind.

But each of us has a choice in how we respond.

We can choose empathy over indifference. We can choose understanding over fear. We can choose to recognise the humanity, dignity, and resilience of people rebuilding their lives.

Today is a reminder that while not everyone has the privilege of feeling safe in their own home, we all have the opportunity to help build a world where more people can.

Together With Refugees is a coalition of over 600 organisations, unions, and institutions working towards a fair asylum system. Find out more and get involved: https://togetherwithrefugees.org.uk

15/06/2026

Don't miss this poetry event tomorrow, on 16th June 2026, celebrating Refugee Week 2026.

Our feed is full of amazing and inspiring things that are happening all over the UK to support Refugee Week. We will share as many as we can. Please follow our instagram feed for more inspiration too.

If you are not already aware of The Other Side of Hope literary magazine you should be. They are a fantastic organization that gives a vital platform to people with lived experience to say what they want you to hear in their own words, sharing their stories, spoken word, poetry, their journey's and their reflections. It is a humbling read and we always look forward to reading it and sharing with with others. Please follow them. Please support them and please join them tomorrow evening.

Don't miss this very special Refugee Week poetry event ✨

Next week we are hosting an evening of poetry readings from poets published by The Other Side of Hope magazine.

The other side of hope is the UK’s only literary magazine edited by migrants and refugees platforming migrants’ and refugees’ writing – it is also the UK’s first Magazine of Sanctuary.

Feel free to eat your dinner or enjoy a glass of wine during this free online event.

Register your place here: https://cityofsanctuary.org/events/refugee-week-poetry-readings-with-the-other-side-of-hope-magazine-3/

Refugee Week runs 15-21st June. It is world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

15/06/2026

A reminder of one of many Simple Acts you can do this Refugee Week 2026 to welcome people in your local community.

The theme this year for Refugee Week 2026 is courage. At a time when some seek to divide and blame, Refugee Week 2026 calls us to come together and share the courage to welcome, to stand for what we believe in, and to celebrate culture and community – to be joyful, imagine new possibilities, dream, heal, and connect.

Courage isn’t always loud or bold. It can be found in simple acts: opening your door to a neighbour, trying new food, reading a book, or watching a film that changes your view of the world. It can be speaking up, asking for help, sharing your story – or simply having the courage to be yourself.

Through art, stories, and community, we celebrate the courage that lives within us all – and how connection helps it grow.

15/06/2026

Please show your support for our Ukrainian community locally by attending their upcoming Soprano and piano summer concert on 5th July 2026, at United Church in Wi******er, from 7pm. See details below.

Tickets can be bought via Ticketsource, see QR code below and/or on the door. Concessions (reduced price tickets) are available. Please share the flyer below and show your support for our Ukrainian friends in Wi******er.

15/06/2026

Thank you to Hampshire Libraries which are all recognised as Libraries of Sanctuary for sharing your book suggestions this Refugee Week for helping people to find out where they can find out more about lived experience of sanctuary.

The world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

Find titles in our collection on BorrowBox: https://hampshire.borrowbox.com/product-group/48639/refugee-week