Rainbow laces
(6th June 2025)
A big thank you to Warwickshire Cricket Foundation for providing Journey members with free tickets to see two matches at Edgbaston Stadium. Bears players wore rainbow laces and the stadium was bedecked in rainbow flags for the special fixture, part of Edgbaston's Pride month celebrations.
It was a good day for both the men's and women's teams, who both won their matches.
THANK YOU
(4th June 2025)
This week is Volunteers' Week, so we're taking the opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to all our fabulous Journey volunteers. This includes our amazing Buddies - longstanding members who also volunteer their time to help organise activities, give one-to-one support and raise awareness of the challenges faced by LGBT+ asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.
A big round of applause for Alex, Ameer, Andy, Aziz, Bet, Chlo, Elena, Faith, Gareth, Helen, Imogen, Irene, Izzy, Jay, Mandy, Marina, Mihran, Naz, Pankti, Phil, Sammy, Seid, Sheila, Shukri, Simon, Umar, Virginia and Zizi. You all ROCK!
Our members said:
"Thanks to all our amazing volunteers for their good works they are doing for Us. God bless you all and healthy life."
"At first I felt worried and insecure but through the smile of the team and welcoming smile you all have made all of us feel home and happy. I wish I can pay you and thank you or reward each but i want to say a big Thanks."
"God bless you guys for your support and time. Thank you all."
"Thank you guys for your great work. We are grateful."
"Thank you guys for your support and effort that u put in in that journey."
"Huge thanks to our awesome volunteers! You’re more than just volunteers - you’re family. We appreciate you more than words can say."
"Grateful for our volunteers, your time and support truly matter."
God richly bless you all for your support and dedication to the members of the group. We appreciate you all for the hard working efforts you put into this group as volunteers."
"I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to all our incredible volunteers, your dedication, compassion, and the time and energy you give without expecting anything in return truly mean so much. As one of the members of this group, I deeply appreciate everything you do to support us and create a welcoming space. Your efforts are seen, felt and valued more than words can express. Thank you!"
"Thank you so much guys for your support and love you guys show to us through the journey."
"Thank you all volunteer and buddy for your great work and effort."
"To all our incredible volunteers, thank you from the depths of my heart. Thanks to you, Journey is a place of hope, family, and healing. You give so much of yourselves, and it means the world. May all the love and care you share come back to you in ways you can’t even imagine."
"Heartfelt thanks to all of you. Not only did you step up as volunteers to help us, but with your constant care and support, you made this journey truly memorable. May Allah bless you with success and happiness at every step."
Hip hop hooray!
(2nd June 2025)
Journey members had an unforgettable day at the grand finals of B:Side, Birmingham's hip hop festival. From explosive breakdancing battles to jaw-dropping whacking performances, our members cheered on every flip, spin and beat drop. But it wasn’t just the dance floor that delivered - Birmingham Hippodrome also served up a delicious lunch, giving us a warm welcome and making our members feel like VIPs. A huge thank you to Ashlee and the team for continuing to champion creativity and community in Birmingham.
"The tight competition between the teams made everything way more exciting, and just being with everyone else in the group was one of the best parts of the day."
"Wonderful day."
"Much appreciated for an awesome day."
"Thank you so much for such a wonderful outing. It was a wonderful day!!!"
Birmingham Pride 2025
(26th May 2025)
For many of our members, Birmingham Pride is a deeply significant event. After fleeing from a life lived in secrecy and fear, marching proudly and openly under a rainbow banner past supportive crowds and friendly police officers can be a profound and liberating experience.
This year our joyful Journey posse included beautiful headdresses made in our 'Finding Pride' creative sessions, rainbow bracelets made in our May meeting, and our two youngest members, aged just 3 months and 8 months.
"Today was great and I really had fun with everyone."
"It's very important because it proves that each person's sexual sovereignty belongs to the individual, not the state."
"In my country, Pride events are barely recognised or understood by most people. Last year was the first time I attended one, and this year again, I found myself surrounded by a community full of love and support. It made me feel safe, seen, and accepted. The most powerful part is realising how much it means to be embraced for who we are - especially in a place where awareness is still growing."
"It was special day for us."
"This was most beautiful experience for us and we show to the world that we belong to same family and there is no difference if you belong to any part."
"I didn't know it was my right because of my background. Now l can confidently pronounce my preference because of my big LGBTQ family."
"It reminded me how special it is to be yourself and feel accepted. Pride is about love, support, and standing together. I’m happy to be part of a community that celebrates everyone for who they are. Happy Pride!."
"It was one of my best experiences for the first time attending Pride with Journey LGBT Asylum Group. I’m so happy to be part of this family."
"That was my first LGBT Pride and this gives me confidence and happiness."
"Love and peace for everyone."
"Happiest day."
Before the parade
On the parade
After the parade
Pride preparations
(20th May 2025)
This month's in-person meeting was all about Pride, in anticipation of Birmingham Pride this coming weekend. Members discussed why Pride events are important, and shared wellbeing and safety tips for the parade on Saturday. We also made rainbow bracelets to wear, and posters to carry.
"It was so nice and and we all enjoyed it so much."
"Today meeting was very great."
"Today meeting was very great & I enjoyed."
Lift the ban report
(20th May 2025)
The Lift the Ban coalition has published a report urging the government to allow asylum seekers to work. The coalition is made up of over 300 non-profit organisations, think tanks,
businesses, trade unions and faith groups. Several Journey members are also actively involved.
Under the current UK law, people claiming asylum are not allowed to work while their claim is being considered. After 12 months, the Home Office may grant permission to work, but only in specific jobs, outlined on the Shortage Occupation List. For many asylum seekers, this means that their living costs are being paid for by the government, while their professional skills and experience is going to waste.
The campaign is calling on the UK government to give people seeking asylum and their adult dependants the right to work in any field, and after they have waited six months for a decision on their initial asylum claim. This would enable them to contribute to the UK economy and have a better quality of life while they await the outcome of their claim.
You can read the full report here.
A breath of fresh air
(6th May 2025)
On Saturday, a group of twenty Journey members and volunteers took to the Lickey Hills to search for bluebells, and enjoy being out of the city and in the fresh air. For some members, it was their first trip to the UK countryside. Everyone talked and laughed, shared a picnic lunch and learned the names of the different fruits they were eating in all their different languages. The word for chocolate seems to be more or less the same in many languages!
Our members said:
"I really enjoyed the nature and fresh air. and I liked the blue flowers, their fragrance was really nice."
"The walk was very nice though a bit windy.."
"Everything was good - more close to nature."
"We had a beautiful day."
Down to earth
(28th April 2025)
We were lucky to be invited again to the New Art Gallery Walsall for a tour of its current exhibitions.
On this trip, Journey members were given a guided tour of the gallery, led by Trixie Suen (the gallery's community coordinator). This included the Garman Ryan collection and the gallery's current exhibitions, 'Earthbound' and 'The Joy Project'.
After the guided tour, we had an artist workshop inspired by the 'Earthbound' exhibition. Members got to use clay and plaster to create pieces inspired by the collection.
Communities not camps
(22nd April 2025)
Asylum camps like Wethersfield are dangerous, traumatising and cruel. Every day they stay open is another day of suffering, at huge cost to the taxpayer.
The Journey Group signed this letter to remind Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP that people deserve to live in communities, not camps.
Powerful performance
(21st April 2025)
Thanks to Birmingham Rep, members of the Journey group were able to see the recent production of 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', adapted from the book by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. It was a difficult watch for some of our members who said the violence depicted was similar to what they had experienced in their home countries.
One member said:
"Thanks to the Rep for giving us the tickets. It was a fully fledged show full of truth."
Community chat
(18th April 2025)
A massive thank you to the Birmingham Symphony Hall and the B:Music Community Café, who host a monthly café for multiple community groups across Birmingham, allowing for a wonderful community get-together.
One of our members, who went along to the Community Café this month enjoyed the opportunity to chat, have coffee and food, and listen to lovely live music - even having a nice moment to take a photo with and chat to the performers afterwards.
Our member said:
"It was very good. I was very happy to be there."
Building Buddies
(16th April 2025)
The Journey Buddies are an essential part of the Journey group, providing peer-to-peer support to new group members, helping organise meetings and activities, and being ambassadors for the group.
At a training session on Saturday, current Buddies shared their knowledge and experience in this role, and helped welcome six new Buddies to the team.
Our new Buddies said:
"It was an amazing day. It gave me more confidence and also a sense of responsibility. The meeting taught me how to hold the responsibility that I'm given."
"Thanks for such inspiring training. I learnt so much and look forward to putting it into practise with new Journey members."
Finding Pride
(14th April 2025)
A huge thank you to Kings Heath Action for Refugees for working with Journey members on the Finding Pride project.
KHAR have organised a series of six workshops for LGBT+ asylum seekers to work with artists in three different mediums: printmaking, photography, and textiles.
The first session was an introduction to the artists and the different mediums. It was a great opportunity for our members to try new artistic styles and get a feel for the new mediums.
For the upcoming sessions, our members will focus on one specific medium and work towards creating a final piece to be displayed at an exhibition in Queen’s Heath in July.
Our members said:
"I really enjoyed yesterday's event. I had a lot of fun and at the end I played a professional photographer. I filmed with the camera. It was very good, I really liked it."
"It was great to hang out. My favourite activity was the stamping."
"It was amazing and engaging as well.
I enjoyed the activities and my most favourite one was fabric printing and decoration stuff which I made little birds. Thank you so much for giving us opportunities to explore ourselves."
"I really appreciated it. It was magnificent."
Lift the Ban
(3rd April 2025)
Journey members were amongst the 'Lift the Ban' campaigners who took to the streets in Coventry last weekend.
Campaign leader and Journey member Virginia said:
"Lift the Ban campaign wants the government to allow asylum seekers to work while they wait for a decision their asylum claim. This will restore human dignity, give a sense of purpose, promote self sufficiency and enable people seeking safety to contribute to the economy."
Dragons
(27th March 2025)
A big thank you to Birmingham Hippodrome for inviting Journey members to a community meet-up, followed by free tickets to spectacular Korean dance show 'Dragons'. It was a great opportunity to get to know the Hippodrome's Learning and Participation team, as well as other community groups, and enjoy some delicious food!
Our members said:
"Thank you very much for this beautiful evening, a very nice moment that I spent this evening."
"Wow I really like creativity. Very nice show."
Speaking to power
(21sr March 2025)
Representatives from organisations that support migrants were invited to meet with Ayoub Khan MP, an independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr. Representatives from Journey, Asylum Matters, Restore, Hope Projects, St Chad's Sanctuary and the Birch Network, plus people with lived experience of the asylum system, spoke with Mr Khan to raise awareness of the challenges faced by asylum seekers in Birmingham and the West Midlands. We hope that he will use his voice to speak up for those seeking safety in the UK.
Breaking fast
(12th March 2025)
Many Journey members, both Muslim and non-Muslim, gathered together to celebrate Iftar this week.
Iftar is the breaking of the daily fast during the Holy Month of Ramadan. The event was organised by Imaan, the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ Muslim charity, and hosted by Carrs Lane Church Centre.
Many members of the community joined together to enjoy delicious food and connect with each other.
Huge thanks to Mohammad from Imaan, and our Journey volunteers - Sammy, Mandy, Pankti and Marina - for making sure everyone had a great time.
Our members said:
“It was a lovely event. The food was so delicious too, and the company. It felt like family vibes, just how we gathered to break our fast in our home countries.”
"Thanks for everyone contributed toward this event. It was so much fun!”
“Thanks to Imaan, for making this community gathering successful. It was nice to meet a lot of friends, and the food was so delicious.”
“Thank you for delicious food next to the family.”
“It was nice food and very welcoming. I really enjoyed it there.”
“Massive respect and thanks to everyone who arranged this nice iftar.”
Chop chop!
(12th March 2025)
Last weekend, Journey member Mahdi put his skills to good use, giving free haircuts at an LGBT craft fayre in the gay village.
Mahdi set up his salon station in the Fox, where the bar manager was very impressed with how clean he kept the space.
Mahdi said that he had the idea thinking it would be a good opportunity for members of the Journey group to come along to enjoy the event, and get their hair cut at the same time.
He said: “Actually, I was just enjoying the day.”
A big thank you to Bryony from Rainbow Connections for making it happen.
Monthly meeting
(27th February 2025)
45 members attended our February meeting, where they tested their knowledge in an LGBT History Month quiz, and shared wellbeing tips. Sarah Favier also returned, to share her magazine article about queer families, prior to publication.
Journey members said:
"Today was fun and thank you for your love and support like always."
"Today I have spent a wonderful moment in my UK life. All members are very friendly. I'm very happy about this meeting."
"Today was really nice, I enjoyed the meeting. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly."
"Today was a really nice meeting and i really enjoyed the meeting, thank you everyone."
"It was really an amazing day. I really enjoyed the love and support that was given."
"Today’s meeting was the most interesting part of my day and it made my day so much more enjoyable ."
"What a lovely day."
"The best day of my life."
Media coverage
(3rd February 2025)
Member Virginia is featured in a Metro article, which includes distressing details of her experiences and situation, as well as a quote from the Journey Group.
Read the article here.
Making connections
(2nd February 2025)
A big thank you to Rainbow Connections for going out of their way to welcome Journey members to their monthly social. Organiser Bryony got in touch, then came to one of our Journey meetings to talk to members and encourage them to try it out. Journey is covering members' travel costs.
To find out more about Rainbow Connections, visit the website.
Journey members said:
"It was lovely."
"Very friendly people."
Light up!
(30th January 2025)
At the end of 2024, several of our members were involved with Light Up Fest, an initiative by Autin Dance Theatre to involve the community in making paper lanterns. It culminated in a procession through Cannon Hill Park, and this video of the event features many Journey Group members.
Watch it on YouTube here.
Family
(27th January 2025)
Sarah Favier, a family therapist and queer woman, visited our January meeting. Sarah is writing an article for a family therapy magazine and was interested in how the group referred to Journey as 'family'. She asked our members about how they experience the Journey group as similar and different to a family, and whether there are any messages they would like to share with mental health professionals.
Sarah said:
Visibility and intimacy
(24th January 2025)
Thank you to Fabric for free tickets to 'Plue', a dance performance by Eli Lewis and Joe Garbett. Their "hypnotic duet" is an exploration of "the gap between how queer people feel and how they're seen".
Journey members said:
"It’s was wow. Thanks for the opportunity. Actually it made me feel more relaxed mentally."
Annual report published
(20th January 2025)
The Journey Group's annual report for 2024 is now available to download from the website. It summarises our activities for the year, with lots of photos and quotes from members. It also includes well-deserved thank yous to our Buddies, volunteers and supporters, and sets out our priorities for 2025.
Read it here.
Lights, camera, action!
(15th January 2025)
Several Journey members took part in the first session of 'Creative Futures', a series of film making workshops for men, run by Birmingham Rep Theatre. From January, participants will work together to produce a short film, and then the films will be shown to festival audiences in July. Throughout the process they will learn film making skills, such as camera, lighting, directing, acting and editing.
Journey members said:
"I had a great time and learned new things like acting, filming equipment and its prices, and how to make a movie."
"It was an amazing session. I hope we can do something great."
"It was very productive session. I took part in one example exercise and I think I will learn a lot there."
"It was amazing and I learned some acting and how to make films. I really enjoyed this workshop."
Bah humbug!
(5th January 2025)
Our first activity of 2025 was a trip to Birmingham Rep Theatre to see their lavish production of 'A Christmas Carol'. Four intrepid members braved the snow outside to enjoy the spooky, funny and joyful show.
A big thank you to the Rep for the tickets, and for its continuing support of the Journey Group.
Journey members said:
"The show was great, sad at first, but when the old man changed his mind, the show became amazing. This teaches us to be open-minded, which is the right thing to do. I enjoyed it very much."
"Today’s experience was very very good. I did enjoy it very much."
"I enjoyed every minute of the show. The wonderful display and sound effects were amazing, the actors nailed it."
"It was an amazing day. Thank you to everyone.".
