Funded by Culture Liverpool as part of LEAP Dance Festival, Finding Refuge was a dance and spoken word project co-created with refugees, migrant children and artists Polina Sharapova, Mariana Pires, Amina Atiq and Nayna Lad in Liverpool. Through poetry, movement and storytelling, it explored forced migration, resilience and belonging, amplifying refugee voices and strengthening community cohesion.

Over six weeks of workshops, eight young people with lived experience of migration or displacement rehearsed the piece, and created their own costumes and props. The final piece was performed at the World Museum, Liverpool, celebrating creativity, compassion and shared humanity.

Held at Future Yard, Birkenhead during Refugee Week, Beats Beyond Borders was a volunteer-led, family-friendly music and arts festival celebrating creativity, culture and solidarity. Produced by Clementine Arts CIC with Heart 4 Refugees, the event raised £1,500 for Heart 4 Refugees, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Save the Children.

With 15 live bands, poets and community speakers performing for free, the festival brought together over 150 local residents, migrants and refugees — one third of whom were seeking refuge in the region. Attendees described it as “a relaxed, welcoming, inclusive atmosphere” and “great to see local and refugee communities together.”

Combining music, spoken word and children’s creative activities, the festival fostered belonging and joy, with 80% of attendees reporting a sense of connection and 79% saying it supported community cohesion. Beats Beyond Borders showed the power of music and spoken word to unite communities across cultures.

Commissioned by Heart 4 Refugees, Clementine Arts delivered two nature-themed arts and crafts sessions for refugee and asylum-seeker children and young people at Callister Gardens, Oxton. The workshops encouraged exploration, creativity and connection with the natural world through bespoke nature hunts, leaf rubbing and watercolour painting, and the making of wind chimes, cardboard owls, and nature wands.

Alongside the creative activities, traditional skipping games and songs helped to build confidence, friendships and joy. The sessions offered a welcoming space for children to learn about local plants and wildlife, express themselves creatively, and find moments of play and belonging in nature.