Wollongong City Council is working in partnership with local community groups to celebrate and mark Refugee Week.
Council has collaborated with TEAM4R, a local volunteer-based community group comprising of former refugees from diverse backgrounds to create a welcome video for all refugees in the Wollongong area.
We’ve also worked in partnership with local community support organisations SCARF, GreenConnect and MCCI to create a “Welcome Photo Series” which profiles local refugees and celebrates the moments, events and people that helped make them feel welcome and belong to the Wollongong community, which will be released on 20 June, World Refugee Day.
Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said Wollongong has been a Refugee Welcome Zone since 2004 our city has declared itself a Refugee Welcome Zone and as is a community which promotes harmony, social inclusion and respect for human rights and dignity.
“We’re privileged to have many refugees call Wollongong home and join us in our wonderful city. We’ve been enriched by those who have come from various parts of the world and they add to our life and the vitality of our city by sharing with us their culture, history and perspectives,” Cr Bradbery said.
Cr Bradbery said he was pleased to be part of this year’s Refugee Week video promoting the event, as much of the activities around the week have been moved online to ensure that communities can celebrate safely. The National Refugee Week website has an exciting range of online events, information and resources.
Refugee Week is celebrated from 14 – 20 June, with World Refugee Day on 20 June and #YearOfWelcome the theme for Refugee Week 2020 in Australia.
