With the final to come this weekend, players who took part in this World Cup were born into displacement. Behind some of football’s biggest names are stories of families forced to flee. But most refugees won’t become professional footballers—and they shouldn’t have to in order to deserve safety.

Heads up charities, community groups and small businesses in Gloucestershire looking for event posters. The lovely folks at Good News Gloucestershire will design one for £7.50 if you can’t afford to pay a graphic designer. Get in touch with them via their socials or [email protected]

Coming up: Join certified NVC trainer, Penny Spawforth, for five-day Living NVC Retreat 19-23 August 🌻🌻 1–2 places left Full information and booking: pennyspawforth.com/nvcretreat-a... #nonviolentcommunication #pennyspawforth #augustretreat #hillhouseretreat #residential

The Bill fails to acknowledge the reasons why people need to seek safety in the first place, and undermines the very right to seek asylum. Instead, the Bill will make it harder for people to find a safe home here and cause huge harm. Thank you @sianberry.bsky.social for your interventions. 6/🧵

🚨Yesterday, the Immigration and Asylum Bill had its second reading in Parliament. This is an opportunity to debate the principles and core purpose of a proposed Bill. We know it's cruel, performative, and will cause huge harm to people seeking safety. Here's a snippet of what happened 👇 1/🧵

Borderless Books and customers raised £140.88 for Sanctuary Breaks charity during Refugee Week! 🙌🏽🙌🏿🙌🏻✨🧡 We were proud to promote the selection of titles with them on @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social. Thank you for your support, readers! @refugeeweek.bsky.social

Proud of our efforts last month and grateful for everyone who supported us. Thank you Boss Morris for helping bring perhaps the most people we’ve ever had to Hill House! Lovely memories from a gorgeous day shared by many 🫶🏻🧡@refugeeweek.bsky.social @refugeestogether.bsky.social

Interested in training on Non-violent Communication (NVC)? Immersive retreat at Hill House with Penny Spawforth coming up 19-23 August. A few places still available. Contact via Penny Spawforth website pennyspawforth.com/nvcretreat-a...

Pride is about the right to live openly and safely. Many LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum are often expected to provide evidence of their identity when claiming asylum. The very evidence they're asked for may be evidence they could never safely create. We stand with LGBTQ+ people seeking safety.🌈

👏👏 Timely intervention by Lord Dubs condemning Shabana Mahmood's nasty & counter-productive asylum plans. Cruelty towards migrants & refugees is never necessary or inevitable. It's always a political choice. If he is the new PM, Andy Burnham must bin these plans. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Support Sanctuary Breaks charity this World Refugee Day by buying a book from the reading list on @bookshop.org! #simpleacts #booksbeyondborders #refugeerightsarehumanrights

‘What We Leave We Carry - Voices of Migration to Britain’ - Colin Grant (contemporary oral history collection) - Hill House staff recommend this book! Speaks right up to the minute we find ourselves in. @colincraiggrant.bsky.social

‘Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head’ - Warsan Shire (contemporary poetry) 'Warsan Shire electrifies... The beautifully crafted poems in this collection are fiercely tender gifts' - Roxane Gay 🔥 @flippedeye.bsky.social #vintagepublishing @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social

‘Dispatches from the Diaspora’ - Gary Younge 🔥 ‘When Stars are Scattered’ - Victoria Jamieson, Omar Mohamed ✨ Both featured in Borderless Books’ Refugee Week reading list & fundraiser for Sanctuary Breaks charity in Gloucestershire. Purchase here during #refugeeweek! @faberbooks.bsky.social

Publishers and book folk, if you see our posts this week about the reading list from Borderless Books supporting our charity - please share from our tiny account. Your support will help this #refugeeweek fundraiser reach far more people. Thank you! #booksky #readabook #simpleacts

‘Against the Loveless World’ - Susan Abulhawa & ‘Asylum Road’ - Olivia Sudjic. Two top recommendations for #fiction titles on Borderless Books’ Refugee Week reading list & fundraiser for Sanctuary Breaks charity in Gloucestershire. Purchase here during #refugeeweek! bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social

‘We Came by Sea’ - Horatio Clare. One of the non-fiction titles on Borderless Books’ Refugee Week reading list and fundraiser for Sanctuary Breaks charity in Gloucestershire. One of the top purchases you can make during #refugeeweek! @littletollerbooks.bsky.social uk.bookshop.org/p/books/we-c...

Just a selection of some of the titles on Borderless Books’ Refugee Week reading list. Many thanks to Borderless Books in Stroud for supporting our work by donating profits from sales of the selected titles this week 15-21 June 🩵 uk.bookshop.org/lists/refuge... 📚 for all ages. #refugeeweek

A message of appreciation from Bekele, our Deputy Director, as we celebrate the start of Refugee Week 2026 🧡 #RefugeeWeek2026 #TogetherWithRefugees

Here to say it's @refugeeweek.bsky.social! Borderless Books in Stroud put their heads together with me to create this fundraiser for @sanctuarybreaks.bsky.social 💙 Support creative respite in Gloucestershire for those seeking sanctuary. Buy a book this week! uk.bookshop.org/lists/refuge...

Our event today has sold out! Thank you to everyone who helped share and spread the word 🫶❤️ @refugeeweek.bsky.social @stroudgreens.org.uk

🌈 We're celebrating LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers and their right to live openly, safely and with dignity. Pride is a celebration, but it’s also a protest to defend rights, which is more important than ever right now.

Got your ticket for Saturday yet? Join us for our annual fundraiser & @refugeeweek.bsky.social celebration in the beautiful gardens of Hill House, Gloucestershire Rain or shine! Saturday 13 June 2.30pm-9pm Dancing & music Boss Morris & other local Stroud talents Entry £15, homemade food £10

Interested in training on Non-violent Communication (NVC)? Immersive retreat at Hill House with Penny Spawforth coming up 19-23 August. A few places still available. Contact via Penny Spawforth website pennyspawforth.com/nvcretreat-a...

Eid al-Adha Mubarak! 🌙 May this celebration bring peace, hope and welcome to families across the UK and globally. 🌍🧡

Supporting Longfield Hospice 💙 We are delighted to be one of the gardens in this local Wine Walk. Which country theme will we be? 🇵🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷… 🇮🇹? Buy a ticket to enjoy the day and find out… www.tickettailor.com/events/rache... #charityfundraiser #longfieldhospice #gloucestershire #winetasting

Support your local Refugee Week event in #Gloucestershire with us, Boss Morris and other talented artists. Saturday 13 June, Hill House, near Stroud from 2.30-9pm Full info on our website www.sanctuaryhillhouse.co.uk/events

A wonderful and deeply meaningful community celebration for the opening of the new display ‘Home from Home: Our Migration Stories’ at Museum in the Park on Sunday. The sculpture from Hill House will be present for 12 months. Do go, the museum is free and many inspiring stories are presented there 💛

The Boat of Hope (2024) by local artist Sam Mukumba in collaboration with a group of people with lived experience of forced migration will be part of a new, permanent display opening at The Museum in the Park, Stroud. The display ‘Home from Home: Our Migration Stories’ opens on Sunday. Join us!

This Saturday! Stroud Shambles Market and St Laurence Church 🌸 @amplifystroud.com

Refugee Week event announcement 📣 🧡 Sanctuary Breaks’ start to Refugee Week Celebration in the beautiful gardens of Hill House, Gloucestershire COURAGE! Saturday 13 June from 2.30pm-9pm Brought to you by Sanctuary Breaks & Stroud District Together With Refugees buytickets.at/sanctuarybre...

Reminder about this event coming up on Saturday 16 May 🇺🇦🌸✨Full info on facebook www.facebook.com/share/17Nddy...

Happy May Day to one and all from Rodborough Common this morning (5.39am sunrise)🎻 Joyous #Beltane dancing from Boss Morris and Miserden Morris. Reminder… We are looking forward to having some of #BossMorris performing among other things at our annual fundraiser event in the garden on June 13… 🎟️✨

Do the #neoancients crowd soon visiting #Stroud - know that a good pillow to rest your head on, a nice walk from a genuine standing stone - is our address? Link below if contemporary #folk draws you to revel in the Cotswolds this weekend. All proceeds to our charity. #placestostay #birthstone

Poetry Film Club is back!. Tuesday 28th April featuring poetry films made by the Bristol Refugee Artists Collective created in LYRA - Bristol Poetry Festival workshops. Come and see the first screening of these films Tickets on the door or from Headfirst: hdfst.uk/e151744

💻 We’re looking for Digital Skills volunteers. If you’re confident using the internet and would like to support refugee women to improve their digital skills, we’d love to hear from you! 🗓️ Wednesdays, 2hrs per week Find out more: www.refugeewomen.co.uk/volunteering/ Deadline: 11:59pm, 26 April

It would be great to see these bold and beautiful posters up around in #Stroud and #StroudDistrict

Want to help make hope louder than hate? Sign the UK’S biggest ever thank you card to the people that make hope happen - and help celebrate that there is more that connects us than divides us. millionactsofhope.org #MillionActsOfHope

Stroud Stands with Ukraine and Stroud Town Council presents Vyshyvanka Day on Saturday 16 May 🇺🇦🇬🇧 11.30am musical parade with traditional Vyshyvanka costumes through the town 12.30 - 3.30pm concerts & activities, St Laurence Church, Stroud

Save the date! Celebrate the start of #refugeeweek2026 with us on Saturday 13 June. Summer garden folk exchange fundraiser 🙌🏼 ✨ Live music by talented local musicians, dancing with a certain local all female progressive Morris side, food - and fun! For your diary! More info soon! 📸 Deb Roberts

This month, the government is expected to announce one of the biggest shake-ups to family reunion ever. Join us on Monday 20th April from 6-7pm to understand what's happening, and what you can do about it: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/4ce71a...

The Commons on our doorstep, covered in #blackthorn #blossom and #springsunshine looking wonderful in the warmer, longer April evenings. Yet another reason to enjoy a retreat or plan a team away day with us… #roam #gloucestershire #commonland #ruralstays #refugeesector #charityawaydays #retreats

A huge thank you to all who helped to make last Thursday’s talk ‘The Reality of Seeking Asylum 2026’ such an informative, moving, respectful and well attended event. With speakers from GARAS community hosted by Sanctuary Breaks and Stroud District Together with Refugees. #refugeesarewelcomehere

Unmissable magnolias — the away days hosted at Hill House this week will have been enjoying this sight 🤍

Remember to get your tickets for our event tomorrow evening in Stroud… great opportunity to hear from our experienced guest speakers #sanctuary #asylum #governmentpolicy

Stand with us against the far-right. Saturday, 12pm. Park Lane. Let's show up in our numbers to say loud and clear: migrants and refugees are welcome here. Video credit: ChooseLove

Thursday 26th March, 7pm in Stroud - a great opportunity to see past the inflammatory media headlines and find out what it’s really like to seek asylum in the UK. Joint event by Stroud District @refugeestogether.bsky.social and @sanctuarybreaks.bsky.social www.tickettailor.com/events/sanct...

Blue Has No Borders, screened at Lansdown in Stroud last night. Such a relevant film and holds this year’s @refugeeweek.bsky.social theme of ‘courage’ and courageous conversations in many profound ways. Thank you to the festival, @hollyantrum.bsky.social and Director Jessi Gutch.

The Reality of Seeking Asylum 2026 Thu 26 Mar 2026 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM The Shambles Hall, GL5 1JL Stroud District Together with Refugees will co-host this event with speakers from GARAS offering insight for how asylum policy is playing out in practice in 2026 www.tickettailor.com/events/sanct...

Marking World Book Day with some shots of this book about the cruel and broken UK Asylum system from 2017 by talented artist Rudy Loewe (of more recent Brixton tube station mural fame). ‘Moving Through Borders’ asks ‘what does freedom mean to you?’ 🤝 w Hull Freedom Festival & @bookworks.bsky.social