2014 Kicks Off with a Slew of Activities

Thanks to Bamidele for telling us about the activities that have been keeping members of The Forum busy these last few months.

Recently, there have been a lot of heart-warming activities at The Forum, located at 2 Thorpe Close, Ladbroke Grove in West London, welcoming refugees and asylum seekers to London.

Among these activities are Poetry Group on Wednesdays and Cultural Fridays with Camila and the Evropska Duo (a talented classical violin duo) for live world music. But the most fascinating to me is poem and stories time, which is dished out to heartbroken and low-mood refugees and asylum seekers every Wednesday between 12 and 1 p.m.

I have enjoyed a lot of poems and stories from the co-ordinator and presenter of this incredible poetry group, Mr. Valentine, and I believe other people that have been attending have also had a good taste in the wonderful sixty minutes with him.

One of my most wonderful times spent was towards the beginning of this year, when I attended Poetry Group, and Eternity by William Blake was one of the first poems that has ever touched my heart.

Eternity by William Blake

He who binds himself to a joy

Does the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

Lives in eternity's sun rise

This four-line poem teaches us that human beings should not be expecting that life will be perfect and ideal; there is always a danger associated with constant joy. But anyone that takes life as it comes will definitely live longer and witness a good part of it.

Sharing the Stage with the Ancients

Louie had this photo taken at the V&A Museum. 
He says that he is "sharing the stage with the ancients." 
These European emperors are here because they achieved something. 
It's nice to think about what we can do in this world to make a difference.  

What Is Real Freedom?

This photo was taken by Mohsen by a small park in Hammersmith. 
This man did not move for half an hour, and Mohsen wondered what caused 
him to be so lost in contemplation. The photo tries to explore what is real freedom.

Christmas and New Year's at The Forum:

Thanks to Volunteer Advisor Nyla for sharing with us this account of The Forum's uplifting holiday party: 

Monday, 16th December, 2013 was a joyous day at The Forum. We celebrated Christmas and New Year's together with our members, who joined us on this festive occasion. It was a day filled with fun, food and laughter, and also a brilliant choir performance from our music group. 

The choir was not restricted to the members of the music group, but all members of the Forum were welcome to join in and sing along with the band. Many people actually did join in, and it was really good to see them smiling and performing together. 

We also had a large variety of food and drinks, which everyone relished, as well as goody bags, as a thank you gesture for each member. It was a nice and warm atmosphere, where everyone was wishing each other well and getting to know each other better.

It was a great event that served as the perfect excuse to catch up with friends at The Forum, as well as to share happiness during this festive period of the year.

How Islam Made Me a Feminist

Many thanks to the talented Zena Agha, daughter of fellow Home Away From Home contributor Jeena, for sharing these personal and insightful reflections on Feminism and Islam as part of a recent TEDxTalk at Warwick Salon. 

YouTube bio: At 17, Zena was the youngest member of Operation Black Vote's MP Shadowing Scheme, campaigning for a boycott of Israeli Settlement foodstuffs in Westminster, as well as Deputy Member of Youth Parliament. Part of her extensive community work includes running poetry workshops, and she was shortlisted for the London Mayor's Young Person Peace Prize. Zena founded and co-ordinates Warwick University's biggest spoken word collective 'Shoot from the Lip,' running poetry slam nights, and was awarded funding from the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund. Media credits include BBC Arabic and the BBC World Service, and she created and produced Operation Black Vote's Power of Poetry project. 


In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = an independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations).

Please Join Us As We Launch The Refuge!

We warmly invite you to join us as we launch The Refuge.

Wednesday, October 2nd, 3:30 PM, The Forum.

Details follow. 

Introducing...The Refuge!

Thanks so much to Aabdeen for telling us all about the The Forum's special new project, The Refuge.

On Sunday, 15th September, I, along with other members of MRCF, decorated the office to run our new project, The Refuge. 

The Refuge is a safe space at our community centre in North Kensington, where migrants and refugees can come and relax, learn new skills, and discuss if they want to become volunteers. Members can gather here to practice social participation and inclusion, develop trust, and discuss ways to engage in active citizenship. 

On Sunday, I drew and painted a tree on the wall inside The Refuge. Instead of having apples on the branches, we decided to have photo frames to hang instead, which will have images of the different issues. 

I made small tables as well, from coffee beans and blue beads. To stick the beads and beans down, I first glued the table surface and then arranged the beans and beads in a pattern. I also painted part of one of the walls yellow and cream. There were a lot of books inside the room which we had to move outside, which automatically made the room look more spacious.