Last Sunday morning, more than 40 people crammed into a wide circle to ‘talk migration’ under the wooden beams of Impact Hub in Kings Cross.
Talk Migration was a day of talks and discussion around the topics of migration, borders and refugee rights, organised by Thighs of Steel.
Every year, Thighs of Steel cyclists come together to fundraise for grassroots refugee organisations around Europe. In 2019 they are aiming to raise £100,000 with their legendary London to Athens relay ride.
A bicycle bell called us to order and the smiles rang out…
We started the day with a talk by Philly, one of the founders of refugee support charity Help Refugees.
Help Refugees started as nothing more than a heartfelt response to the growing humanitarian crisis in Calais in the summer of 2015. A few friends and a crowdfunder aiming to raise £1000.
A week later, they’d raised over £50,000, and were receiving 7,000 donations a day – tents, sleeping bags, clothes, toiletries. They rented a warehouse in London, another in Calais, and Help Refugees was born.
Almost 4 years later, Help Refugees are now supporting more than 80 grassroots projects in 12 countries.
This year, 120 Thighs of Steel cyclists are aiming to raise £100,000 for Help Refugees. The funds will be split between grassroots organisations along the Thighs of Steel London to Athens cycle route.
Campaigns Help Refugees support in the UK
- Lift The Ban, to support asylum seekers’ right to work
- Set Her Free, against the detention of refugee women in the UK
- Dubs amendment process to settle unaccompanied minors in the UK
Thank you to Thighs of Steel for putting on Talk Migration, a day of talks and discussion around the topics of migration, borders and refugee rights.
If you want to support Help Refugees, then you could do a lot worse than donate to my Thighs of Steel fundraising page 😀