Since 2015, Refugee Tales walkers have made a large scale walk every summer In solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers and people who have been held in immigration detention. Walkers have been met with hospitality every step of the way. Working in collaboration with migrants and those who have experienced the UK asylum system, and taking Chaucer’s great poem of journeying as a model, established writers and people with lived experience of detention have shared tales in evening events.

The tales are published in three volumes by Comma Press, with the fourth edition being published in July 2021. Through the sharing of tales the project has gathered and communicated experiences of migration, and has sought to show the reality of indefinite detention. As the project walks it creates a space in which the language of welcome is the prevailing discourse.

Since Refugee Tales walked for the first time, the debate around human movement has fluctuated dramatically, as pressure for a change of policy on indefinite detention has continued to build. It is a cruel and debilitating practice that continues to do untold damage to tens of thousands of lives.

Refugee Tales hosts a self-advocacy project for people with lived experience of detention who share the tales with parliamentarians and people of influence and calls for change. We are very grateful to all those who have shared their stories, to the writers, musicians and hosts who have worked with us. Thank you, walkers and thank you to our patrons, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Ali Smith.