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Museum photo exhibition tells the powerful stories of refugees in Bolton

7 April 2007

A powerful new photography exhibition charting the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable refugees opens at Bolton Museum, Aquarium and Archive this Saturday (April 7).

The families, from Sudan, were resettled in Bolton in January 2006 as part of the Gateway Protection Programme, a joint UN and Home Office scheme to resettle people who have fled war and persecution.

Bolton photographer, Stephen Fielding, was commissioned by Bolton Metropolitan Council to take pictures for the exhibition and record the families' first year in Bolton.

The pictures are accompanied by moving testimonies. They describe their lives before the devastating civil war broke out in Sudan, the day-to-day realities of living in an overcrowded and dangerous refugee camp and their experiences of Bolton during their first year in the town.

The Gateway Protection Programme was established in 2002 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with an aim to find homes in other countries for people exiled in refugee camps with no chance of returning home or building a future in their country of exile.

In 2004, Bolton became the second town in the UK to accept groups, who came from Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bury also has since joined the scheme.

Councillor Ismail Ibrahim, Executive Member for Culture and Community Services, said: “Bolton is well known for its friendly people and welcoming attitude. This exhibition reflects aspects of life that most of us will fortunately never have to experience, but it’s important that we show this kind of work so that we can understand these issues and be inspired to help make things better. Hopefully it will be a fitting tribute to the courage of these people and also to the people of Bolton, who have shown the way in offering them a better life.”

The new arrivals have been assisted by a small team of resettlement workers from the independent charity Refugee Action during their first 12 months in the town.

Rick Jones, the manager of the Refugee Action in Bolton, said: “This exhibition is a fitting testimony to the refugees’ extraordinary courage and will to survive. During the 12 months that we have worked with them we have seen them go from strength to strength as they have learned about their new culture, made new friends, started re-training and finding jobs and as the youngsters have settled into school. I am sure they will go on to make an even bigger contribution to Bolton in the future.”

The exhibition will run until April 28th. Bolton Museum, Aquarium and Archive is situated in Le Mans Crescent, opposite the town hall. Opening hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday and admission is free.

For more information contact the museum on 01204 332211 or visit www.boltonmuseums.org.uk. or contact Julia Ravenscroft, press officer at Refugee Action, on 07771 748 159.

ENDS

Refugee Action is an independent, national charity working to enable refugees to build new lives in the UK. We provide practical advice and assistance for newly arrived asylum seekers and long-term commitment to their settlement through community development work, and provided support to more than 40,000 asylum seekers and refugees last year. As one of the country’s leading agencies in the field, Refugee Action has 25 years’ experience in pioneering innovative work in partnership with refugees.