Refugee Valentine 2025
Schedule
Sat Feb 08 2025 at 07:00 pm to 11:00 pm
UTC+00:00Location
The Old Market | Brighton, EN
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Save the date - details and tickets to follow soon ❤️LOVE is in the air!
There is more to love than romance. The Sussex Refugee Migrant Self Support Group know this first hand. We had to leave all that we loved to rebuild our lives in a new country. We set up Refugee Valentine to celebrate diversity and the complete spectrum of our love. Don't have another dull date with your partner. Come party with your newest neighbours and celebrate a love that crosses borders
Sussex Refugees and Migrants Self Support Group (SRMSSG) set up Refugee Valentine because forced migrants are very socially isolated and very disempowered in general. Winter is always harder, and Valentine’s Day can be especially lonely if you have no money to access traditional activities. The celebration of monogamous pair bonding can be traumatising for people who have had to leave partners, wives, husbands and family behind. It can be triggering for people whose precarity more or less precludes them from such relationships. We know from our own lived experience. We set up Refugee Valentine as an antidote to these problems. It provides an opportunity to be with others and celebrate who we are and what we have to offer. Asylum seekers, refugees and precarious migrants are people who have already crossed borders to find love in new communities. They can show us the way to transcend differences. It’s differences that bring us together, and Refugee Valentine takes love beyond monogamous pair bonding, to begin with rebuilding a community that celebrates difference. Brighton & Hove is a welcoming City of Sanctuary that celebrates its diversity. Refugee Valentine is also about experiencing some joy in the face of the hostile environment and government policy for those caught on the wrong side of the border. By supporting this event, you are not only providing a moment of joy for the asylum seekers, refugees and precarious migrants but also contributing to the creation of a more inclusive and understanding community.
Acts TBC but we are working in collaboration with African Night Fever so they will be great! Upbeat and dancey❤️❤️
The Sussex Refugee and Migrant Self-Support Group is a sister organisation of Thousand 4 £1000 (T4K), a local charity.
They are a group of refugees, asylum seekers and other forced migrants. They work together to support each other in overcoming obstacles placed on them by the Hostile Environment, and help build space for themselves in Brighton.
One of their major projects is the Jollof Café. They cook food from their countries of origin to facilitate community harmony and connection. It provides a space where they can welcome the settled community and take part in the life of the town, rather than being passive recipients of support. Refugee Valentine is an extension of this. They started this event in 2016 to celebrate love and diversity in their community, and have run this event ever since (except during the pandemic).
Their aim is to showcase acts from the refugee, asylum seeker and precarious migrant communities to celebrate love and connection. They strongly believe love transcends borders. Refugees are people who have already crossed borders to find love in new communities. They can show us the way to transcend differences. It's differences that bring us together and Refugee Valentine takes love beyond monogamous pair bonding, to begin with rebuilding a community that celebrates difference. They hope to:
Combat loneliness among migrant communities
Raise money for their destitution fund.
Strengthen Brighton as a welcoming City of Sanctuary that celebrates its diversity.
Presented by The Sussex Refugee and Migrant Self Support Group
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Where is it happening?
The Old Market, 11a Upper Market Street,Brighton and Hove, Brighton, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
