Events
Warm Words: A Refugee Week Gathering
Join William Morris Gallery community residents Stories & Supper for an evening of poetry, film, food and conversation from refugees and people seeking asylum.
Stories & Supper meet every week at the gallery to share stories, food and laughter. To mark Refugee Week, we're inviting local residents to join us in the beautiful gallery cafe to celebrate the power of community and the value of friendship. At a time of rising hostility around migration, join us to stand with refugees and people seeking asylum.
Free but booking essential.
Donations to support our work are very welcome.
Journeys into Film and Friendship
We will be screening four short films as part of the Refugee Week film festival. Come to see one, or stay for all four. There will also be drop-in activities on the themes of hope, home and courage. Suitable for all ages (see individual film classifications).
1pm: MIGRANTS (2020), U, animation, 8 minutes
Driven from their habitat by climate change, two polar bears embark on a journey into unfamiliar territory, where they encounter brown bears and must attempt to coexist.
1.30pm HAYAT (2019), U, dir. Rendah Haj, 14 mins
Rahma, an Eritrean migrant living in Australia, faces isolation and daily struggles as she works to keep her four young children connected to their cultural roots while building a new life far from home.
2.15pm AZIZA (2019), PG, dir. Soudade Kaadan, 13 minutes
Ayman, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, teaches his wife how to drive – their car being the last remaining piece of home. What begins as a simple lesson transforms into a surreal and emotional journey through memory, longing, and displacement.
3pm TSKALTUBO (2023), U, dir. Toby Andris, 24 mins
After 30 years living as refugees in an abandoned sanatorium, Irakli and Nana are finally offered a new apartment. But as the possibility of change arrives, they must confront whether it is too late to begin again.
This event complements William Morris Gallery's special Refugee Week Family Day, offering hands‑on craft sessions inspired by Women in Print: 150 Years of Liberty Textiles, which celebrates the women designers behind Liberty’s signature style. Families will discover the global influences and journeys that shaped these designs, tracing where patterns originated and the cultures that inspired them.
Food and Friendship
An interfaith shared meal for Interfaith Week. Bringing communities together through food and storytelling in Waltham Forest Borough of Sanctuary. Free and open to all. Bring and share dishes, exchange stories and recipes, make new friends.
A collaboration with the Women’s Interfaith Network.
For more information contact Maeve at: maeve@wominet.org.uk
Name Me Lawand – Film Screening
Five-year-old Lawand is on a quest to find a world where there are people like him. Having undertaken a treacherous journey with his family from Iraq to Derby, Lawand, who has been profoundly deaf since birth, soon finds his new life under threat when the family face deportation.
Join Stories & Supper and Waltham Forest Migrant Action for a joint screening of this powerful and inspirational documentary, which shows the importance of finding a place where you belong.
We will also be showing ‘Caring Together Against the Hostile Environment’ – a beautiful short film about a recent collaborative project exploring networks of care for refugees and asylum seekers in London and beyond.
Drinks and snacks available.
Expressions of Belonging
Join us at St Mary's Church in Walthamstow village for an evening of powerful performance, conversation, poetry and delicious food, exploring the importance of belonging and home for those seeking safety.
Including:
’Bichu’ – Abel Atsede brings his experience as a queer, refugee artist to this new dance piece featuring original poetry, created with Phosphoros Theatre. ‘Bichu’ is an exploration of a lost soul trying to find peace in the storm.
‘Caring Together Against the Hostile Environment’ – a beautiful short film about a recent project exploring networks of care for refugees and asylum seekers in London and beyond. A collaboration between Birkbeck University, Phosphoros Theatre and Stories & Supper.
Poetry readings – refugees and asylum seekers in Stories & Supper share their writing about finding belonging, sometimes in the most unexpected spaces.
Conversations – chat show interviews with a difference as we let you in on conversations between Stories & Supper members about friendship, home and connections.
Food – a delicious home-cooked Indian meal from our chef Shahnaz.
Tickets just £15!
Welcome Home
Make yourself comfortable in our home from home in the People’s Pavilion and take part in storytelling activities as we explore the many meanings of home for Waltham Forest residents. Everyone is welcome in the Stories & Supper home as we challenge narratives of exclusion together.
1–2pm / 3-4pm Drop-in story gathering activities: Come and share your stories of homes near and far and hear poems from the Stories & Supper team. Open to all.
2-3pm Storytelling workshop: An hour-long storytelling workshop facilitated by the Stories & Supper team, as we share and gather stories of home. Concluding with a performance of poems from Stories & Supper members. Open to all – booking in advance advisable.
This event is part of the Beyond the Box programme at the People’s Pavilion: www.beyondtheboxcic.com/events
Building Our Own Utopia
Join us at this free drop-in community workshop exploring the theme of utopia. Inspired by William Morris’s writing, we’ll play with words and images to build a dream of a better world and think about what home means to us. If you have an object that makes you think of home, please bring it along. All ages welcome!
This event is part of a special family day at William Morris Gallery to mark Refugee Week 2025.
You can also join the gallery’s learning team to explore the amazing influence William Morris had on the design of our homes. Be inspired by his designs and patterns and create your very own unique Dream Room to take home. Craft activities suitable for children ages 5+
Warm Words – A Celebration of Community
Join us for this Refugee Week event, featuring conversations, poetry and food from the Stories & Supper community.
Making Home: A collaborative embroidery for Refugee Week
Join Stories & Supper to celebrate Refugee Week and contribute to a collaborative embroidery on the theme of home. Add a word, an image or just a stitch to help us reimagine what home means. Plus, enjoy pop-up poetry readings while you sew. This is a chance to get to know the Stories & Supper community of refugees, people seeking asylum and local residents, currently in residence at the William Morris Gallery.
All materials will be provided. Suitable for all ages (children must be supervised). No previous experience of embroidery necessary. All stitches, no matter how simple, are welcome!
The Taste of Home: A community feast
A community feast for Refugee Week for refugees, people seeking asylum and the organisations and individuals who support them.
A collaboration with William Morris Gallery, Leyton Sixth Form, Citizens UK and other community partners.
Home: An Exhibition for Refugee Week
An exhibition for Refugee Week in collaboration with Leyton Sixth Form College and Citizens UK Waltham Forest.
We’ll be exhibiting photos of the Stories & Supper community by Laura Martinez, plus new work from our creative workshops including embroideries. Plus work from students of Leyton Sixth Form exploring home and belonging.
Storytelling workshop: E17 Art Trail
Join us for a storytelling workshop about home and the value of community, as part of our E17 Art Trail exhibition. We’ll screen some of our new cookery videos and share stories about the importance of food for creating a sense of belonging.
Tickets £5 (free for under-16s)
Community Threads: E17 Art Trail
Celebrating the value of community with stunning portraits of the Stories & Supper community taken by photographer Laura Martinez. Plus we’ll be showing the collective textile artwork we made with artist Sarah May and screening some of our new cookery videos.
Make sure you join our storyelling workshop on Saturday 1st June at 12noon.
Stories & Supper on screen: sharing our favourite recipes
Join us to celebrate the launch of our new series of cookery videos, showcasing the favourite recipes of our members, alongside stories of home, food and belonging.
View the films, meet the chefs, and take part in a recipe-sharing. storytelling activity.
FREE – donations welcome – refreshments provided
Plus, our books and aprons will be on sale.
This event is supported by Fat Beehive, London Borough of Waltham Forest and The Mill.
Sri Lankan cookery demo
Thilini will be showcasing her Sri Lankan pumpkin curry at Age UK in Chingford. This is a live spin-off from our forthcoming series of cookery videos, supported by a Make it Happen grant from London Borough of Waltham Forest.
Venezuelan cookery demo
Laura will be sharing her empanada recipe with families at Leytonstone toy library, in a live demonstration spin-off from our forthcoming series of cookery videos, supported by a Make it Happen grant from London Borough of Waltham Forest.
Celebration Supper Club
A global supper club, celebrating our new cookery videos, our allotment harvest and our residency at the William Morris Gallery. Expect a menu that takes you on a journey around the home countries of the Stories & Supper community, including Sri Lankan pumpkin curry and a delicious quince dessert.