Hello from our sunny office! As the Summer Solstice marks halfway through 2025 and a season of warmth and growth, we’re excited to share some highlights from the past couple of months, including Refugee Week and lots from behind-the-scenes at Refugee Support Devon.

• Park Life Lunch for Life: Colombian Night

• Pop Up Shop

• Critical and Creative Approaches to Trauma-Informed Practice Conference

• Respect Festival 

• Refugee Week

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Park Life Lunch 4 Life - Colombian Night

In collaboration with Park Life Heavitree, we hosted a Lunch for Life celebration evening on Saturday 17th May with a Colombian inspired menu. 

The aim of the event was to celebrate the project, now nearly two years old and raise money to help sustain the future of it. Lunch For Life give people seeking safety living locally the opportunity to come together each month to cook and share food. It was such a special evening with incredible Colombian food prepared and cooked by some of our clients. Park Life friends and family had a wonderful time sharing the meal together with volunteers helping to serve the meal and a local storyteller entertaining everybody.

We would love to run more of these events offering the chance for you, our local community to come and enjoy fantastic cuisine from around the world. A big thank you to the Park Life team for organizing such a wonderful event - we look forward to the next one!

Pop Up Shop

Each month, we deliver donations collected at our office to a local initial accommodation hotel in Devon. This facility serves as a temporary home for people seeking safety, where Refugee Support Devon provides vital assistance and resources. We set up a temporary pop up shop for residents to 'shop' and help themselves to what they need. Often our clients arrive here in Devon with nothing but the clothes they're wearing and so initiatives like these provide a lifeline to many people living in hotel accommodation. We had a brilliant day in May with lots of donations going to a new home. 

Thank you to everyone who contributed - you make a real difference! Got some items to donate? We’re always in need of clothing, shoes, toiletries and household essentials. Drop them off at our offices at Exeter Community Centre and we'll include them in our next Pop Up Shop.

Critical and Creative Approaches to Trauma-Informed Practice Conference

On Thursday, 5th June, we were honored to participate in the University of Exeter’s ‘Justice and Violence Research Network’ event at CoLab Exeter, focusing on ‘Critical and Creative Approaches to Trauma-Informed Practice.’

The event brought together experts from academia, law, and international and community organizations to explore how we can better support individuals affected by trauma. Discussions challenged dominant ideas of “trauma-informed” practice and highlighted innovative, creative methods - like collage, music, and movement to aid healing and recovery.

Our Drop-In and Events Coordinator, Valentina, delivered a compelling presentation titled "Working through Trauma - Structures of Support: Drop-In Service and Choir in a Refugee Setting." She shared powerful insights from Refugee Support Devon’s drop-in service and weekly multicultural choir, showcasing how these initiatives foster connection and provide vital support for refugees in our local community.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved for creating such a thought-provoking and inspiring event!

Respect Festival

We had a brilliant weekend at Respect Festival again this year. We ran a stall and sold lots of tomato plants, purple broccoli and broad beans grown by volunteers and clients at our community garden in Exeter. We shared information about our work, promoted our Refugee Week appeal and our multi-cultural choir ended the festival with a performance on the main stage! Thank you to our wonderful volunteers and clients who spared their time to help out over the weekend. Despite the occasional downpour, we had a brilliant weekend.

Congratulations to the Exeter Respect team on a successful 2025 Festival! Thank you for having us.

Refugee Week

Refugee Week was a huge success! We hosted three events in Exeter: an evening of film, food, and conversation at Exeter Phoenix, a community dinner celebration at St Sidwell's Community Centre, and a family fun day for our clients at Exeter Phoenix.

Our film screening sold out, and over 100 people joined us for our community dinner. We’re thrilled with the turnout and the connections made during these events. Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, and supported Refugee Week - we couldn’t have done it without you! We turned out in force, saying loud and clear, 'Refugees are welcome here'. 

Refugee week is always a highlight of our year, and 2025 was no exception. It was a week of community and celebration across the globe.

You can find more pictures and stories from Refugee Week over on our social media where you can stay up to date with all our future community events. Click on the buttons below and give us a follow!

This Refugee Week, we raised a total of £4300 for emergency support for people who've risked everything to seek safety in Devon. 

We ran a Refugee Week appeal. Over 100 individuals donated, over just 2 weeks, this was our shortest appeal but one of our biggest yet! Thank you so much to everyone who donated, however big or small, it all makes a huge difference and goes directly to the frontlines where we are supporting people who often arrive here in Devon with nothing and no one turn to. From bus tickets to emergency food and accommodation, we rely on generous donations from individuals to provide this vital emergency support. 

We shared Ibtisam and Adnan's stories, two clients who have received support from our emergency fund. Read their stories here and here.

If you shared, donated or maybe joined us at one of our Refugee Week events, THANK YOU. Your support makes a huge difference.

It's not just during Refugee Week that we need your support, we rely on donations from our supporters all year round. We continue to work with hundreds of people in our community who are rebuilding their lives. Your monthly contribution could make a huge difference. Please consider supporting us more regularly by following the link below, or head to our website to find links to donate.

Thank you for reading and see you next month!

Natasha - Refugee Support Devon

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