Carlisle College is dedicated to being welcoming and inclusive for all students, and that includes our students and community members seeking sanctuary. For Refugee Week 2024, we had lots of events to celebrate our students with refugee and asylum-seeking status. On the Wednesday of Refugee Week, Scott Price and his catering team delivered an amazingly delicious meal to members of the refugee and asylum-seeker community in Carlisle, during a conversation cafe and art installation displaying photography by people seeking sanctuary in Carlisle (kindly lent to us by Lindsey Atkinson at Tullie House). On Thursday night, there was a community film night and discussion around three films that celebrate refugee voices and talent: Brave (2021), In Vitro (2019), and Matar (2023).

Escape to Safety is coming to Carlisle College! Between 26th Feb - 8th March, you will be able experience this powerful and unforgettable interactive exhibition. ‘Escape to Safety’ is a free, unique, interactive, multi-media walk-through exhibition (designed by Global Link in Lancaster) where you put yourself in asylum-seekers’ shoes and listen to and experience refugees’ stories as you navigate through the exhibit and complete educational and thought-provoking activities associated with it. It involves a powerful combination of a reconstructed journey with audio, some short films, VR, conversations and introductory and follow-up exercises. It takes up to an hour to complete the whole experience. @penrithandedenrefugeenetwork

In celebration of #RefugeeWeek we would like to introduce you to one of our ESOL students who currently has her artwork on display at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Filiz Sustam Oylum, originally from Turkey, is currently completing her Level 1 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) exams at Newcastle College. Outside of college, she creates traditional Kurdish ceramic art and pottery, a skill she taught others in Turkey before moving to the UK. Filiz said: “I was a teaching artist in Turkey and had exhibitions out there with my brother. It is very important to me to exhibit my work in England as it’s a very good opportunity.”