Volunteers from Bournemouth University, Bournemouth School for Girls and the British Red Cross have recently completed running a series of activities to support Refugee Week 2008.
The volunteers conducted awareness sessions in local schools, delivering interactive workshops to get young people thinking about the realities that a refugee might face. This was done through quizzes, team working activities, and a role play exercise called ‘Journey to Safety’ whereby the school children were put into “families” and then put through a series of obstacles simulating a refugee's journey to safety, away from persecution.
To finish the week, a group of volunteers ran a stall at the Winton Carnival which was used to raise awareness of key issues surrounding refugees, breaking down myths and preconceptions and clearly differentiating between different groups in society which often get grouped together (e.g. refugees, illegal immigrants, asylum seekers).
The theme of the stall was what home means to people and what they would miss, allowing them to relate to refugees. In order to achieve this, a gazebo was used to look like a home complete with windows, a cat, TV, sofa, garden path and flowers out front. The stall was very successful and the volunteers spent a lot of time engaging with the public, challenging their understanding of refugees and filling in any gaps they might have. There were a lot of surprised people on the day, as they learnt something new, breaking down any pre-conceived ideas they might have had.
As a result of the success of the activities held in Refugee Week the volunteers involved are now in the early phases of creating the first British Red Cross University Club in the UK, and will be at the Freshers’ Fair looking for new members to get involved: planning and then delivering workshops across the Dorset area on key humanitarian issues. This will be a great opportunity for Bournemouth University students to get involved in volunteer work, particularly those interested in topics such as the rules of war, child soldiers, refugees and many other humanitarian work the Red Cross does across the globe.
If you would like more information on the British Red Cross University Club please contact Craig Palmer on cvpdvd@hotmail.com
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