Swindon Literacy project brings refugees together

The town celebrated Refugee Week with a project exhibition

Bilingual books are accompanied by sacks of toys to bring the story to life. Photograph: Celine Heath

A new ‘Story sacks’ project featuring bilingual books has created a space for refugees to come together whilst learning English.

The new programme - put together by a team in Swindon, Wiltshire – allows for refugees to read a story in English alongside their native language. They then create a sack of toys and crafts that are relevant to the writing as a way of bringing the story to life.

Semra Heath, a support officer for Swindon Borough Council, originally began by starting a women’s group for local Afghan refugees as a way of bringing them out of their homes and settling into their new community.

After noticing that many had previously received little education, Mrs Heath came up with the idea of integrating Story sacks with her sessions to “break the language barrier and bring literacy into more women’s lives.”

“With a little extra effort and creativity, reading can be fun for everyone.

“It has been incredible watching the project boost their confidence and show them the joys of reading stories,” she said.

A team of staff and volunteers worked together to make the programme a success. Photograph: Celine Heath

With the project proving to be an initial success, Mrs Heath worked with a team of colleagues and volunteers to expand the programme and open it up to refugees from other countries, including Ukraine.

“Our Story sacks project was profound as Afghan and Ukrainian women came together to create something truly special,” said Juniper Freyne, a Warm Welcome support officer from Swindon Borough Council.

She added: “Despite their diverse experiences and backgrounds, they discovered common ground through shared stories and teamwork.”

The projects team arranged an exhibition on Monday to celebrate Refugee Week’s 2025 theme, ‘Community as a superpower’. A variety of sacks were on display alongside the storybooks that inspired them.

The exhibition showcased a variety of cultural clothing alongside the story sacks. Photograph: Celine Heath

“Monday’s event was a celebration of cultural fusion and an acknowledgement that everyone, whoever they are, wherever they have come from and however they have come to be here, has a story to tell that should be listened to and told to others,” said Christine Bennett, Volunteer lead schools coordinator from Swindon City of Sanctuary and member of the team that put the project together.

“I love that this showcases the best of Swindon,” said the Mayor of Swindon, Councillor Fay Howard. “We are a beautiful, varied, kind community in Swindon, and that is our superpower.”