Celebrating 20 years of Refugee Women of Bristol

Nothing can stop Refugee Women of Bristol (RWoB) from joyously celebrating their 20th anniversary – not even their keynote speaker being stuck in London due to a train incident.

Refugee Women of Bristol empower refugee women and asylum seekers to help each other and themselves by creating a safe space and a community. They host language classes, offer childcare, run events, organise community groups and work with other organisations around Bristol to support the people who access their services.

Naana Otoo, executive director of FORWARD UK, is to be beamed in to the event via Zoom instead to a room made up almost entirely of women in Easton Christian Family Centre on Beaufort Street, Easton, on a recent Thursday morning.

Before the talks start, hugs and catch ups are exchanged between members, volunteers and various collaborators.

They all enjoy samosas and strawberries laid out on platters as people start to take their seats.

To the left of the room sits Niki Groom, a local artist whose beautiful drawings and paintings of RWoB’s previous celebrations have been used to illustrate the work of the charity where pictures have been restricted due to permissions.

Niki Groom’s designs have been printed on tea towels which are being sold to raise money for the charity

Vicki Harte, the administrator for RWoB, opens the event with a warm welcome before handing over to co-founder Layla Ismail and vice chair of trustees Mirfat Mustafa.

Mirfat reminds the room, 20 years on, why RWoB was set up: to empower refugee women and create a safe space for women to share, support each other and amplify the voices of refugees.

With a current total of 630 members, who between them speak more than 48 languages and are from 53 different countries, the impressive impact of RWoB on their community in Bristol is evident. There are also 40 volunteers supporting the charity.

Layla Ismail pays tribute to co-founder Sue Nije and former trustee and member of staff Hanna Ahmed who sadly passed away in 2020.

RWoB don’t work in isolation. In 2019, they developed a partnership with 15 other Bristol-based organisations working in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers, called Bristol Refugee and Asylum Seeker Partnership (BRASP).

Alongside work to support refugee women, the charity also run projects to support and educate people on the subject of female genital mutilation and violence against women and girls. It runs campaigns and peer support, including the Mend the Gap project since 2019.

The team at ReWoB had a cake to celebrate their 20th anniversary

Layla reflects on the highlights and achievements of the last two decades and asks for support in the form of money and time. Their services are oversubscribed, they are also looking for a bigger space to host their work.

Naana Otoo starts her keynote address from London with an expression of sadness that we can’t all see her African finery in person; she’d got all dressed up to attend. FORWARD is an African-led organisation that works in partnership with RWoB. Naana said “strategic partnerships are vital to create change”.

Partnerships between such organisations such as RWoB and FORWARDS create a pool of knowledge, skills and experience and help the charities deliver more with less. They build trust and stronger bridges with marginalised communities.

Niki Groom’s drawing from the 20th anniversary celebrations features important quotes from the presentations

Naana said: “You can’t make change by just talking at people, you have to work with people. People coming together is what is important in creating change”.

RWoB may be based in Easton, but the charity has a global outlook. The team here recognise that their work can be enhanced by working with other organisations around the country and despite the many challenges.

The sense of pride at the charity’s achievements was palpable

Next, volunteer Diana Wetz talks about the challenges of learning English as an adult. “Language is the gateway to society, and that’s where Refugee Women of Bristol come in,” she said, referring to the charity’s one-to-one reading and classes.

With the formal presentations finished, it is now time for music, poetry and dancing. Jade takes to the stage to sing a beautiful Chinese song about being away from family while Bristol24/7 member and RWoB volunteer Claire Ackland plays the piano. Suella is next to sing a truly transportative Bangladeshi folk song which has the whole room clapping along.

One of Layla’s daughters, Kaltun, takes to the stage to perform some poetry inspired by today’s event and then the room breaks for food, a celebratory cake cutting and jovial chatting.

All photos: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

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