Refugee Week 2026

Richmond's Refugee Week Event 2026 was a wonderful celebration of community and culture. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who helped make it possible.

Thank you to all the attendees who joined us and took part in the event and activities.

We are especially grateful to our VCS partners, local organisations and community groups who joined us as stallholders, sharing information, services and opportunities with attendees

A special thank you to all the caterers, performers, artists, musicians, people with lived experience and speakers who brought creativity, culture and inspiration to our events. Your contributions helped make this year’s Refugee Week memorable and meaningful.

Together, we have celebrated the strength, resilience and contributions of people seeking sanctuary. Thank you for being part of Refugee Week 2026.

Watch: Richmond celebrates culture and courage during Refugee Week

Events

See events from Refugee Week 2026.

Around the World in Food and Languages

Hosted by Richmond EAL Friendship Group and ETNA Community Centre.

This free community cultural event is part of Refugee Week. This bring-a-plate event celebrates the diverse cultures, languages and traditions within the local community through food, conversation and connection. Residents are warmly invited to bring a dish to share, or simply come along to enjoy an afternoon of friendship and cultural exchange. Everyone is welcome.

Are You Okay? performance

'Are You Okay?' is an intimate chamber theatre performance built around real-time text messages between a Ukrainian soldier at the front and his wife, a school teacher in Kyiv, interwoven with contemporary Ukrainian poetry and live clarinet music.

This has been arranged by the Ukrainian Social Club with Richmond Libraries.

Courage in Action

Hosted by Multicultural Richmond.

A welcoming community event open to all, celebrating the strength, resilience and contributions of sanctuary seekers. The event will include interactive stalls and activities. It will also feature a storyboard created by members of Richmond’s Hong Kong community, sharing their journeys to the UK and the challenges they have experienced, highlighting the theme of courage.

Celebration evening

Richmond Council would like to invite you to join a celebration of Refugee Week on Thursday 18 June for an evening of delicious food, performances and music, in celebration of the sanctuary seekers who call Richmond home.

All local sanctuary seekers are welcome to join, as well as voluntary organisations, partners and residents. The event is free and open to all.

Storytelling and poetry session

Hosted by Learn English at Home.

Learn about poetry in a fun and easy way. Participants will reflect on courage and express ideas through drawing, writing, group storytelling, and accessible poetry and spoken word. The session aims to reduce language barriers, build confidence and self-esteem, and strengthen community connection by celebrating the resilience and strengths of sanctuary seekers in a safe, inclusive space. Refreshments will be provided.

Courage through Culture

Ukrainian traditions bringing communities together, hosted by Prosperity for Ukraine.

This event brings together refugees and the Richmond community through shared cultural experiences. This includes Ukrainian cultural workshops, a varenyky masterclass, Petrykivka painting, children’s Motanka doll workshop, and a Ukrainian wine tasting and cultural presentation.

Richmond Library Service

Join Richmond Library Service to celebrate the voices of Richmond upon Thames.

Celebrate a year of Voices of Richmond upon Thames, a project inviting those moving to Richmond from other countries to add their photos of daily lives to our archive collections, creating a diverse collection to be viewed for years to come. The event will feature a look back at some of the entries submitted this year as well as food and entertainment for all ages.

Courage, Culture and Community

Hosted by SFIDA Albanian/Kosovan/Macedonia and Gorani Group.

The event will feature an exhibition of artwork by former child refugees, personal stories across generations, traditional Albanian dance, and food. It aims to foster empathy, challenge negative narratives about refugees, and strengthen community cohesion in Richmond. The event is free and open to all.

Displaced Ukrainians Together: Courage to Belong

Hosted by Ukrainian St Mary's Trust.

The event will offer children’s art and music activities, a cultural space with Ukrainian books and crafts, and access to informal advice from a legal advisor and family support worker. It will celebrate the everyday courage shown by displaced families rebuilding their lives.

Kupala Festival

Celebrating courage and community, hosted by Ukrainian Social Club.

Ukrainian refugees and the Richmond community unite to celebrate Ukrainian culture, share stories of courage and resilience, and build connections. The festival features music, poetry, creative workshops, children’s activities, and artisan crafts, with sanctuary seekers leading performances and activities.