I have always been a slightly restless soul, seeking new adventures and challenges with a career that encompasses also sorts of work including running a Go-Kart track and being a Voice Coach, amongst other roles. Having become disillusioned with living near London and my work at that time as a corporate event manager, I moved to Bristol seeking more accessibility to nature and to explore more creative pursuits. Bristol provided a plethora of options and I threw myself into workshops and Festivals. Finding meaningful work was a bit elusive, but a chance conversation with Deasy Bamford from Tribe of Doris changed all that. They were looking for someone to help with their events and activities and had heard on the grapevine that I was good at organising stuff! This connected me to Celebrating Sanctuary and refugee week and after a few years coordinating this event I suggested that we could expand the programme and the Festival was born.
In 2019 I felt that whilst the annual Festival in June was very successful and raised awareness of refugees and asylum seekers, it was very centralised and happened in one month of the year. It did not connect refugees and asylum seekers to the communities they lived in and give them opportunities to share their skills and culture in those localities and create longer-term meaningful relationships. So, with funding from the Lottery, we began our community engagement programme and spread our activities across the city and beyond.
I am so proud of what our tiny team has achieved over the last few years. We have negotiated all sorts of challenges including a global pandemic and the hostile environment created by the last government. And even though there is a new dangerous, divisive narrative arising around the world, I am a strong believer that there are many more of us who wish to unite our communities and create welcoming spaces for all.
This year’s theme CommUnity as a superpower, reflects this perfectly and we really look forward to working with communities across Bristol and South Gloucestershire to celebrate our rich and diverse heritage.
Our next planning Meeting is on Thursday 13th February 10-12.30 at Bristol Old Vic.