If you were a refugee what would you take with you to remind you of where you came from?
Sometimes all someone can take with them are their memories.
The Archives+ team wanted to connect with a relevant local community during Refugee Week in June.
Angela Rawcliffe, learning officer, had made contacts with Webster School on Denmark Rd in Moss Side.
Joanne Bailey, communities officer, had identified the Powerhouse, a library and youth centre, as a great venue in the Moss Side area.
We were very aware of the sensitive issues around refugee status, especially for young people. The Ahmed Uqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre helped us explore some ideas through their resources for schools.
We decided to keep things very simple and planned a craft activity for the younger children from Webster School. We chose images of things they might recognise from life in this country and elsewhere, tying each image to a colour.
We had coloured beads which they could then put on to a ‘memory bracelet’.
Two stories were read ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘But Martin’, both of which deal with it being OK to be different.
Some of the children were very new to the school and had very little English, but they all enjoyed making the bracelets and the afternoon’s activities.
