This event was held at the Methodist Church on Cowley Road and this year had the theme of restoring hope.  I was welcomed by Dr Antony Kingsley, Deputy Director of Refugee Resource and show around some displays of excellent work that is done to support refugees and those seeking that status (asylum seekers) in and around Oxford.  There is an impressive amount of partnership working too.  I admire the huge amount of work that is done in Oxford by and for refugees and those seeking that status from all parts of the world.  This event was celebrating all that 16 years after the first discussions that Amanda Webb-Johnson (The Director of Refugee Resource) started and 14 years after the formal establishment of Refugee Resource.  I’m told the first Oxford Refugee Week celebration was back in 2006, set up by Eden Habtemichael and the Refugee Women’s group initiative so it’s brilliant that so many volunteers are still registering and that the organisation is going from strength to strength!

There is still much to be done in this important work and our community’s response to this particularly vulnerable group of people in our world.  I know that many are struggling with hardship, isolation, neglect and an uncertain future and that’s why events like this one are so important in helping to restore hope for so many in such desperate situations.