Special actions for sports, arts and leisure groups

Have an open day knees-up

Organise an open day, taster sessions or induction day in collaboration with refugee organisations to get people to come and see how great your museum/leisure centre/football team/gym/heritage site is. That way, people will tell their friends and you’ll have more new visitors and members.

Make having fun easier and cheaper

Offer free leisure passes to people on low incomes like people seeking asylum so they can get involved too.

Use your club to get people together

Organise a sports tournament, arts project, singing group or cookery club that brings together people from different backgrounds.

Include refugee photographers, writers, artists and musicians in arts programmes throughout the year

Famous musicians, writers and artists like Emmanuel Jal, MIA, Khaled Hosseini, Lucian Freud, and Anish Kapoor were all refugees and exiles once.

Get involved in Refugee Week...

...by offering your space to others, organising a one-off event or including relevant films or theatre productions in your mainstream programming.

You could host an art exhibition by refugee artists or a photo exhibition on the theme of welcome or displacement, coach cross-cultural football teams for a tournament, support a poetry slam, organise screenings of films about the countries people flee from (like Persepolis, Battle for Haditha, The Valley of Tambourines, the Kite Runner, Hotel Rwanda) or British films about refugees (like Between the Wars, In This World or Gas Attack), or even read a book about the refugee experience in your book club like Dave Eggers' What is the What.

Give newcomers some local history gems

Newcomers are often really keen to find out about their new area and its history. Local rambling and historical associations can help refugees discover the local countryside through walking groups and learn about British social and cultural history through open days at heritage sites and walking tours of the city.

Use refugee power in your community

If you have volunteers delivering tours or welcoming visitors, think about recruiting asylum seekers and refugees too. This gives them a brilliant opportunity to meet new people and get involved in their local community. They’ll then become ambassadors for your leisure centre/gallery/museum in the wider community and encourage friends and family to come.