The Welsh Refugee Coalition’s timetable of events at the National Eisteddfod

Sunday 5 August

Welsh lessons for refugees and asylum seekers

In this session Matt Spry, who is originally from south-east England and has learned to speak Welsh will be talking about his projects which aim to teach Welsh to refugees and asylum seekers. A number of Matt’s pupils will be at the session and there will be a Q & A at the end.

Monday 6 August

HOPE not Hate – difficult conversations workshop

Have you ever been involved in a conversation with a friend, colleague or family member about racism or immigration and felt a little overwhelmed? Have you ever witnessed discrimination or a hate crime and not known how to react?

HOPE not hate – Britain’s largest anti-extremism campaign – invites you to take part in our preview sessions on ‘how to have difficult conversations’ and ‘how to respond to a hate incident’. These workshops will provide you with the skills to practise how to overcome these challenges and be more confident in the conversations we have about difficult topics.

Come learn more about the important work that we do to challenge far-right extremist views in our communities, meet local volunteers, learn new, practical skills!  

Tuesday 7 August

Seren Jones in discussion with Eric Ngalle Charles

Seren Jones a Journalist on the BBC World Service (Zimbabwe, Taid a Fi ), talks to Eric Ngalle Charles about his journey from the Cameroon to Wales and his experiences of the immigration system. Eric arrived in Cardiff in 1999 fleeing persecution in his village. For many years he was stuck in the asylum process, destitute and unable to move forward with his life. Now granted Leave To Remain, Eric is carving a life for himself as a poet, dramatist, novelist and a Creative Wales Fellow.

Wednesday 8 August

Croeso Teifi: how to organise community sponsorship for refugees

Community sponsorship for refugees started back in June 2016. By the end of this year 25 families will have been welcomed to the UK through community sponsorship – nine of these will be in Wales. In this session Vicky Moller and Philippa Gibson will discuss their experience of community sponsorship with Croeso Teifi. The session will be full of practical information, as well as heart-warming stories about the families who have been settled in their area. If you want to learn more about community
sponsorship don’t miss this session. 

Thursday 9 August

Music across borders: in the company of musician Gareth Bonello and Ahmed Abdullah Adam

Talented musician Gareth Bonello has now been giving free guitar lessons for refugees and asylum seekers at Oasis, Cardiff for over two years. During this session he will talk about the motivation behind this, as well as his experiences, before performing with his pupil and friend, Ahmed Abdullah Adam. Ahmed is originally from Sudan, and has been having regular guitar lessons with Gareth at Oasis for over 18 months. 

Friday 10 August

Phylip Hughes:

Visiting Calais

In this session the renowned Welsh actor Phylip Hughes, well-known for playing Mr Lloyd in S4C’s drama series Rownd a Rownd, will be discussing his experience meeting and helping refugees and asylum seekers in the refugee camp in Calais – ‘The Jungle’. He’s visited Calais, three times, twice with Care4Calais and once visited another camp in Calais with charity L’Auberge des migrants. Q & A session at the end.

Saturday 11 August

Ifor ap Glyn and Eric Ngalle Charles: Poetry from Wales and Cameroon