During Refugee Week 2024, Sanctuary Ambassadors collaborated with UEA researchers, The Common Lot CIC, and The Zainab Project CIC to create a moving performance based on poetic material from qualitative research exploring hope and healing in people seeking asylum.

The Common Lot CIC, Norwich, produces relevant, accessible theatre with personal, social impact. The Refugee Week performance, I Will Heal ,featured eight individuals from six cultures, using music and spoken word in six languages. Nearly 400 people attended four impactful performances across Norwich.

For performers and audiences alike, the experience was transformative, with one performer sharing:

“Now I believe I can sleep because I have someone to share my thoughts with.”

Link to Clark, E., Hanson, S., Steel, N., Parretti, H.M. and Sweeting, A. (2024), “Suffering, struggles and support: a qualitative exploration of hope and healing in men seeking asylum using photographs and I-poems”, Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-08-2024-0103