As my time as captain of QUB STAR (Student Action For Refugees)comes to an end, I reflect on the last seven months with immense gratitude. Since our group was resurrected in the School of Law, the passion, enthusiasm, dedication, and kindness of Queen’s University & other organisations helped us to realise our aim: to make our campus a more welcoming and understanding place for our friends from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds.

As captain, the following achievements are made all the more special by the fact they were achieved at such an uncertain time. The news today is filled with stories of hate, racism, and intolerance, and yet, we worked hard to establish ourselves as a student society making our campus a more safe and welcoming place. Without the following people, that would simply not be possible. My final year at Queen’s would not have been as special, and I would not have been as lucky to make new friends from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds. When we had our relaunch with Afternoon Tea, alongside Belfast City Councillor Caoimhín McCann, Professor Colin Harvey, and the Red Cross, I had such hope for the year ahead, and so I’m delighted to say that we have achieved incredible things together!

I am incredibly grateful to have partnered with the Civic Engagement Team at Queen’s, and we are honoured to have assisted them in achieving University of Sanctuary Status, joining a prestigious network of institutions that have pledged to become places of safety, solidarity, and empowerment for people seeking sanctuary. Our partnership also involved QUB STAR championing their Sanctuary Coffee Mornings, meeting new friends and helping them navigate life in our part of the world through culture, education, storytelling and friendship.

I am also grateful to have been supported by our students here at Queen’s. We hosted our Pub Quiz in the Botanic Inn, where their generosity and quiz skills blew us away. You helped us to raise £170, which is going towards our summer project with the BIC.

We also worked with Anaka Women’s Collective on their GCSE tutoring scheme. QUB STAR are grateful to have volunteered to help students from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds undertaking their exams, facilitated by Zoom, which ensured that is was accessible for students and our busy schedules. Then, Anaka very kindly invited us to celebrate Iftar with them, sharing delicious food and meeting new friends. I’m very grateful to have spoken at this event, voicing STAR’s support for the 16+ Education Equality Campaign. These amazing young people push for equal access to education; we love supporting them and I do hope that this will continue with the next generation of QUB STAR!

I’m very grateful to have such an amazing committee working with me, and without them, we simply would not be where we are today. Molly, Emily, Hannah, Bláithín, Conor, Amy, Oran, and Morgan – thank you for your dedication, passion, creativity, and faith in STAR, as we resurrected the society together.

Our Events Officer, Hannah Kunnath, spoke at both the Elevate NI Student Conference and QUB Law Spring Celebration. At both events, she delivered STAR’s message on ‘Breaking Barriers for Refugees and Asylum Seekers – One Action at a Time’, sharing the hope and solidarity of our goals and our mission.

Our Fundraising Officer, Bláithín Drain, organised the STAR Clothing Drive for Street NI, sourcing them as our partner for this project and collecting clothing items for men, women, and children here.

The committee also came together to organise ways for us to learn more about the complex challenges faced by refugees and asylum seekers here. They kindly hosted Niamh from the Law Centre NI, who delivered her Intro to Asylum session, explaining the system that our friends and neighbours go through. They also hosted Denise, from the PCSP, who showed us practical ways to deescalate hate and support our neighbours in these increasingly hateful and uncertain times.

Our General Committee Member, Morgan, is hosting an ESOL Workshop – An Intro to Teaching English to Refugees and Asylum Seekers – On Monday 9^th June at 18:00 until 19:00. This amazing opportunity will help us all to develop skills assisting our future volunteer work in the community.

The next day, we are having our Annual General Meeting! We are reflecting on the past seven months and looking to the year ahead, electing our 25/26 committee and hearing feedback from our members. We look forward to seeing you there!

Throughout the past seven months, we have maintained our presence on campus, on social media, and in the city centre, protesting against the increase in hate and advocating for a more just and understanding society where everyone can thrive. But we need you to maintain this presence. Fill out an application form and nominate yourself for a position in the next QUB STAR committee to help continue our work and add to this list! Feel free to share far and wide with the Queen’s students you think would be interested and continue our work next year.

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If you are interested in getting involved with STAR please drop us an email - star-soc@qub.ac.uk