Talk Migration is a day to get the brain cogs turning with talks and discussions lead by refugee projects from around the UK. Find out more about the refugee situation across Europe and look at the different types of action people are taking to support refugee rights.
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TALK MIGRATION
Have you ever felt like you care about refugee rights but don’t quite have the information you need to talk confidently about why? Ever been part of uncomfortable conversations about immigration but don’t have the confidence to stand up for your beliefs? Want to get involved but aren’t sure where to start?
Well, we can help you with that! On Sunday, refugee projects from across the country will be coming to share their experience and opinions and help us explore the myriad of issues surrounding migration and refugee rights in the UK and beyond.
The morning is listening and learning, featuring talks from Help Refugees and Detention Action, two grassroots organisations who have been working on the frontline of migration activism for years.
The afternoon is for looking at the many different ways there are to take action. A range of projects will be talking to us about how the work they do and how we can get involved. You will have a chance to discuss the different forms of involvement in small groups, a safe space to ask questions, and delve deeper into the issues. From talking to your granny to preventing charter flight deportations, there are many different ways we can all make an impact.
Participating Projects include: Help Refugees, Detention Action, Indigo Volunteers and members of the Stanstead 15 and End Deportations.
Well, we can help you with that! On Sunday, refugee projects from across the country will be coming to share their experience and opinions and help us explore the myriad of issues surrounding migration and refugee rights in the UK and beyond.
The morning is listening and learning, featuring talks from Help Refugees and Detention Action, two grassroots organisations who have been working on the frontline of migration activism for years.
The afternoon is for looking at the many different ways there are to take action. A range of projects will be talking to us about how the work they do and how we can get involved. You will have a chance to discuss the different forms of involvement in small groups, a safe space to ask questions, and delve deeper into the issues. From talking to your granny to preventing charter flight deportations, there are many different ways we can all make an impact.
Participating Projects include: Help Refugees, Detention Action, Indigo Volunteers and members of the Stanstead 15 and End Deportations.
CYCLE
On Monday we will be giving the mind a rest and challenging our legs by spinning them round and round for the day. There will be two routes one 55km and one 80km. This is not a compulsory part of Talk Migration, no gold coins have to change hands and you are welcome to change your mind about coming. But it would be lovely to see you out in the fresh air to continue conversations from the Sunday...or just pedal our way through some countryside together.
Why are we doing it?
The refugee situation is complicated, a constantly changing and often overwhelming web of whats, hows and whys. We know from personal experience that it can be hard to find exactly where you fit in and how you can best help.
That’s why we have invited representatives from grassroots refugee organisations to guide us through that tangled web and help us uncover how we can best take part. We want to know more, do more and change more, and we’d love you to join us.
And why do we do Thighs of Steel at all? For the bigger picture take a look at our Reason page.
That’s why we have invited representatives from grassroots refugee organisations to guide us through that tangled web and help us uncover how we can best take part. We want to know more, do more and change more, and we’d love you to join us.
And why do we do Thighs of Steel at all? For the bigger picture take a look at our Reason page.
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SUNDAY
10am - 10.30am - Grab a tea or coffee and head for your seats for a good morning and introduction to the day.
10.30am - 11.30am - Help Refugees talk on the current refugee situation in the EU and UK, followed by Q+A session.
11.30am - 12pm - Break. Chat about what we’ve just heard, have a tea or coffee.
12pm - 1pm - Members of Detention Actions project Freed Voices talk about their experience of indefinite detention and why it has to end. Followed by a question and answer session.
1pm - 2pm - Lunch! Eat a delicious veggie lunch (please bring a dish to share!), have a quick cup of coffee and chat about the morning, or rest your brain ready for the afternoon.
2pm - 3pm - We will hear from 5 different projects that work to improve the lives of refugees and bring on reform in a variety of ways. Each project will talk for 5-10 minutes about what they do and how they take action.
Projects:
To see more about the projects involved on the day, take a gander at ‘Who will be there’ below.
3pm - 3.45pm - We will split into groups and, depending on the kind of action you would like to hear more about, you will have a chance to discuss with 2 projects. In this smaller group, with the project you have chosen, you can chat about their kind of action, what it can achieve, what problems the action might face, and how can you get involved.
3.45pm - 4.15pm - Choose a second project to discuss their forms of action.
4.15pm - 4.30pm - Come back together and have a quick break.
4.30pm - 5pm - Wrrrap it all up. We will say thank you's and goodbyes and most likely head to the pub for a drink.
10.30am - 11.30am - Help Refugees talk on the current refugee situation in the EU and UK, followed by Q+A session.
11.30am - 12pm - Break. Chat about what we’ve just heard, have a tea or coffee.
12pm - 1pm - Members of Detention Actions project Freed Voices talk about their experience of indefinite detention and why it has to end. Followed by a question and answer session.
1pm - 2pm - Lunch! Eat a delicious veggie lunch (please bring a dish to share!), have a quick cup of coffee and chat about the morning, or rest your brain ready for the afternoon.
2pm - 3pm - We will hear from 5 different projects that work to improve the lives of refugees and bring on reform in a variety of ways. Each project will talk for 5-10 minutes about what they do and how they take action.
Projects:
- End Deportations and Stansted 15: A group focussed on stopping deportation charter flights.
- Thighs of Steel: A project that organises fundraising cycle rides for grassroots refugee projects.
- Detention Action: Provide support for people in detention and campaign for an end to indefinite detention.
- Indigo Volunteers: No fee volunteering organisation. They help match projects with volunteers at no fee to anyone.
To see more about the projects involved on the day, take a gander at ‘Who will be there’ below.
3pm - 3.45pm - We will split into groups and, depending on the kind of action you would like to hear more about, you will have a chance to discuss with 2 projects. In this smaller group, with the project you have chosen, you can chat about their kind of action, what it can achieve, what problems the action might face, and how can you get involved.
3.45pm - 4.15pm - Choose a second project to discuss their forms of action.
4.15pm - 4.30pm - Come back together and have a quick break.
4.30pm - 5pm - Wrrrap it all up. We will say thank you's and goodbyes and most likely head to the pub for a drink.
MONDAY
As we put the finishing touches to the route for the ride we will get more specific with locations on this bit, but for now, here’s the gist.
9.30am - Meet at our starting point. Divide into groups of keen (80km) and party (55km). We may have to divide further as we don’t cycle with more than 8 people in a group. A Thighs of Steel cyclist will ride with you, so no need to know the route if you don’t want to.
9.30am - 4pm - Pedal up, down and along through the outskirts of London and into some green for most of the day. The finish time is a bit vague of course as we never know how long riding will take, but this is about the time we usually get in. We will end at a pub or another kind of establishment and have a few drinks and some grub if you fancy it.
9.30am - Meet at our starting point. Divide into groups of keen (80km) and party (55km). We may have to divide further as we don’t cycle with more than 8 people in a group. A Thighs of Steel cyclist will ride with you, so no need to know the route if you don’t want to.
9.30am - 4pm - Pedal up, down and along through the outskirts of London and into some green for most of the day. The finish time is a bit vague of course as we never know how long riding will take, but this is about the time we usually get in. We will end at a pub or another kind of establishment and have a few drinks and some grub if you fancy it.
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At Talk Migration we are honoured to be working with the amazing projects that will be talking and holding discussions. Below is a little more information about them all.
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Help refugees
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Help Refugees is a refugee charity with minimum overheads and maximum impact. 94% of their fundraised money goes straight to the projects. Help Refugees have representatives on the ground across Europe to make sure the money is given quickly to the projects that need it the most. They pride themselves on pioneering a new movement in humanitarian aid that is fast, flexible and transparent. Since 2015 they’ve raised £10 million, helping around 722,500 people in 12 different countries. All fundraised money from Talk Migration is going to Help Refugees to help them support grassroots refugee projects.
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Indigo volunteers
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Indigo Volunteers focus on connecting projects with volunteers with no fees for anyone involved. There are many issues with fee paying volunteering, including projects being unable to access volunteers, volunteers being unable to find projects, irresponsible volunteering (e.g. doing a job a local person could be employed to do) and corruption (e.g. Corrupt companies and individuals, in the knowledge people will pay substantial fees, set up fake orphanages, often with children who are not orphans, or worse, have been trafficked or bought to pose as orphans.). Indigo Volunteers tackles this by asking for no fees from anyone and handpicking projects that need help, ensuring that they are genuine and that they get the kind of volunteers that will be most useful to them. For the volunteer it also ensures that their time and skills will be assessed and they will be recommended to a project where they can really make a difference.
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end deportations
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End Deportations is a collective campaign calling for the abolition of deportations and detention centres. They focus on preventing deportation charter flights because they are the hardest form of deportation to resist individually. The Stansted 15 are a group of 15 human rights activists from End Deportations, who in March 2017 attached themselves to a plane about to carry out a mass deportation to Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
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dentention action // freed voices
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Detention Action supports people in immigration detention and campaigns for detention reform. They support people held at Colnbrook, Harmondsworth and Morton Hall detention centres and people held under immigration powers in London prisons. They provide emotional and practical support to detainees by connecting them with legal aid, having volunteer prison visitors and run a freephone advice line people can call. They also campaign against indefinite detention, asking for a strict 28 day time limit and the expansion of community based alternatives. As part of Detention Action they run a project called Freed Voices, this is a group of experts-by-experience of detention. Free Voices speak out as experts on detention to directly challenge the mainstream misconceptions around it and demand change.
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WHERE
WHAT TO BRING
For the talks //
Other than an open mind, curiosity and perhaps a pen and paper, we ask that everyone brings a vegetarian dish to share for lunch. You may also want a few snacks.
For the cycle //
You will need to bring with you everything you need throughout the day. Here is a list of things you will definitely need to bring but you may want personal extras!
Other than an open mind, curiosity and perhaps a pen and paper, we ask that everyone brings a vegetarian dish to share for lunch. You may also want a few snacks.
For the cycle //
You will need to bring with you everything you need throughout the day. Here is a list of things you will definitely need to bring but you may want personal extras!
- Your bike (duh!)
- Helmet
- Snacks (cycling is hungry work, bring quite a few)
- Water bottle(s)
- A packed lunch or money to buy something
- A waterproof
- A spare inner tube
- Whatever tools you need to get your wheel and tyre off in case of punctures
- A pump
Fancy a cycle ride?Join our monthly London not-so-serious cycle club
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Who the Heck Are We Anyway?Meet the people behind the project and also the wheel of the support van!
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Past Rides & TestimonialsFirst-hand experiences, anecdotes and accolades from past riders
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