What is it the Year of Welcome calendar?
Quite simply, it’s a calendar highlighting global events, with local impact, which reflect and promote Swindon City of Sanctuary’s values around welcome and inclusion.
The calendar is a reminder of the year-long importance of welcome – that it be embedded into the daily lives of all of us in our community.
To get a high-quality A2 calendar for £5 – order HERE while supplies last!
Why did we create it?
Following the success of Swindon City of Sanctuary’s Show Your Heart campaign during our first Week of Welcome (20th-25th November 2021), the idea for our Year of Welcome calendar began to grow.
In supporting Together with Refugees’ Show Your Heart campaign, our Week of Welcome inspired many organisations and schools across Swindon to create hundreds of messages of welcome to all people who have come to Swindon – especially people who have fled their homes from areas of conflict, persecution or violence. Photos of hundreds of Swindon people of all ages, holding their messages of welcome, were gathered together into a huge orange heart, by the amazing staff at Create Studios, Swindon’s, “socially driven digital and film production agency”. During December, 2021, the huge orange heart was displayed on a billboard in Swindon’s Old Town.
The billboard celebrated the warmth and humanity of people in Swindon; it also celebrated how important it is to enable people to show their support to and for each other.
The Show Your Heart campaign was Swindon City of Sanctuary’s inspiration for dedicating a whole month to focusing on different ways we could all show welcome. But why stop at only one month of welcome?
What if we used the Month of Welcome as a springboard for building welcome more widely across the town throughout a whole year, every year?
Emerging from this came the idea to create a calendar to highlight global events with local impact, that reflect and promote Swindon City of Sanctuary’s values around welcome and inclusion. The calendar would be a reminder of the year-long importance of welcome – to be embedded into the daily lives of all of us in our community.
The ideas began to take shape. We invited Bekah Grace to work with us again and create the friendly illustrations and format that would appeal to schools, organisations and individuals.
We are now thrilled to be sharing the calendar with you!
Find info on calendar at Global Dimension
What is Global Dimension?
Global Dimension is the UK’s leading global learning platform, supporting a community of educators to connect your students with themselves, others, and the planet.
Most of the dates on our Year of Welome Calendar are also on the Global Dimension calendar, so you can visit their website to find links to resources that relate to each day!
Dates that aren’t on Global Dimension’s calendar
18th December – International Migrants’ Day
International Migrants Day: schools activities (cityofsanctuary.org)
In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly declared 18 December as International Migrants Day, marking a day every year to reflect on the role of migrants in our societies, their positive contributions and the challenges they face in achieving their full potential and capabilities. This day is also a reminder that human rights are not ‘earned’ by virtue of being a hero or a victim, but are an entitlement of everyone, regardless of origin, age, gender and status.
IMD is an opportunity to promote an informed and balanced conversation on migration and to share the stories, experiences, aspirations of migrants in their communities. The theme for 2021 International Migrants Day was ‘It Takes A Community’ – it will be the same for 2022. The theme reminds us of our interdependence, our common humanity, and the unique contributions we collectively make to our shared communities.
CoS – School Engagement – IMD 2022_2 (cityofsanctuary.org)
Since 2021, to mark the day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the UK in partnership with IMIX are leading an engagement initiative under the theme of #ItTakesACommunity to reflect on the role of migrants in our societies, their positive contribution and the challenges they face in achieving their full potential and capabilities. This day is also a reminder that human rights are not ‘earned’ by virtue of being a hero or a victim, but are an entitlement of everyone, regardless of origin, age, gender and status. The aim of the #ItTakesACommunity engagement initiative is to promote and facilitate participation by civil society organisations in the celebrations for International Migrants Day.
June – Refugee Week
Refugee Week is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Founded in 1998 and held every year around World Refugee Day on the 20 June, Refugee Week is also a growing global movement.
Through a programme of arts, cultural, sports and educational events alongside media and creative campaigns, Refugee Week enables people from different backgrounds to connect beyond labels, as well as encouraging understanding of why people are displaced, and the challenges they face when seeking safety. Refugee Week is a platform for people who have sought safety in the UK to share their experiences, perspectives and creative work on their own terms.
Refugee Week’s vision is for refugees and asylum seekers to be able to live safely within inclusive and resilient communities, where they can continue to make a valuable contribution.
Refugee Week is an umbrella festival, and anyone can get involved by holding or joining an event or activity. Refugee Week events happen in all kinds of different spaces and range from arts festivals, exhibitions, film screenings and museum tours to football tournaments, public talks and activities in schools.
Refugee Week is a partnership project coordinated and managed by Counterpoints Arts. Our national partners are listed here.
For more on Refugee Week’s vision, strategy and values see our Theory of Change.
Refugee Week 2023 will run from 19-25 June. The theme for 2023: Compassion Theme of Refugee Week 2023: Compassion | Refugee Week.
30th July – International Day of Friendship
International Day of Friendship | United Nations
Sharing the human spirit through friendship
Our world faces many challenges, crises and forces of division — such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses — among many others — that undermine peace, security, development and social harmony among the world’s peoples.
To confront those crises and challenges, their root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.
Through friendship — by accumulating bonds of camaraderie and developing strong ties of trust — we can contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability, weave a safety net that will protect us all, and generate passion for a better world where all are united for the greater good.
Background
The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
The resolution places emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.
To mark the International Day of Friendship the UN encourages governments, international organizations and civil society groups to hold events, activities and initiatives that contribute to the efforts of the international community towards promoting a dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation.
The International Day of Friendship is an initiative that follows on the proposal made by UNESCO defining the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems. It was then adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1997.
International Day of Friendship – Teaching Packs
Since 2011, the United Nations has marked the 30th of July as the International Day of Friendship. Around the world, events are organised to promote the values of friendship.
Winnie the Pooh has been the UN Ambassador of Friendship since 1997, because of his commitment to his friends in the famous books.
Having friends is important for health and wellbeing. Having a friend that you can trust can make you feel better when you face difficulties.
19th August – World Humanitarian Day
World Humanitarian Day | United Nations
Background
On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day (WHD).
Each year, WHD focuses on a theme, bringing together partners from across the humanitarian system to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises, and for the safety and security of aid workers.
The theme for World Humanitarian Day in 2022 was “It takes a village”
It takes a village | World Humanitarian Day
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
This World Humanitarian Day, on 19 August, shine a light on the hundreds of thousands of volunteers, professionals and crisis-affected people who deliver urgent health care, shelter, food, protection, water and much more.
Learn about their life-saving work and share.
Whenever and wherever people are in crisis, there are others who help them.
From the affected people themselves – always first to respond when disaster strikes – to the global community that supports them as they recover, they come together to ease suffering and bring hope.
Because, as the saying goes: It takes a village to support people in crisis.
Awaiting information about the theme for 2023.
Get a copy of the Year of Welcome Calendar
We want everyone to have access to the calendar, so we’re offering a free A4-size download here.
If you’d like something a bit bigger, you can get a high-quality A2 calendar for £5 – order HERE while supplies last!
Get involved and share your story with us!
Join the movement along with hundreds of other schools using the following links:
- Swindon City of Sanctuary Twitter
- Swindon City of Sanctuary Facebook
- Email us your feedback and pictures at [email protected] for a chance to be featured on our page