Advertisement
BLACK FRIDAY OFFER: 3 months for just £9.99
SUBSCRIBE
News

MPs and artists back festival highlighting women's "tortuous" asylum process

David Lammy, Antony Gormley, Tracey Emin and more will feature in North London's Spotlight on Asylum festival kicking off on September 7

Spotlight on Asylum

A London festival that aims to highlight the often-overlooked impact of asylum on women in the UK will feature star-studded backing over its two-month run.

North London charity PramDepot’s Spotlight on Asylum exhibition kicks off on September 7 with a whole host of comedy, film, spoken word, performance and music events examining the “tortuous” asylum process faced by women across the UK every day.

More than 120 Asylum Angels pieces from esteemed artists Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin as well as trade union leader Len McCluskey and more will be up for auction from September 7 and on display at Karamel N22 in North London.

It will also play host to the Asylum InQuizition on October 26 – a quiz and meal compered by MPs David Lammy, Kate Osamar and Catherine West with questions cooked up by Haringey Migrant Support Group.

Also on offer is a comedy night, spoken word performance by Vivien Isebor and a film festival as well as a performance by the All African Women’s Alliance. This is couple with a screening of news investigations uncovering the conditions that women were forced to live in while detained under the immigration system.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Karen Whiteread, the founding director of organisers Pram Depot – a charity which provides baby clothes and equipment for more than 400 vulnerable mothers every year – insists that the series of events will go a long way to raise awareness of the issue.

Spotlight on Asylum
Spotlight-on-Asylum

According to the Refugee Council, at the end of 2017 a total of 2,545 persons were detained which accounted for 270 women.

“We hope that Spotlight on Asylum will lead to a greater understanding of the appalling conditions and tortuous process the women are subjected to in their struggle to obtain ‘leave to remain,’’ said Karen Whiteread, founding director of PramDepot.

“Spotlight on Asylum festival will help us to vital raise funds to keep supporting society’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised groups, while starting conversations and engaging our supporters in the work we do.”

All events will take place at the Karamel N22 (4 Coburg Road London, N22 6UJ) where a range of vegan cuisine will be on offer. Tickets are on sale via spotlightonasylum.com. Ticket prices start at £10 (general admission) and go up to £20 (admission and buffet)

Images: PramDepot/Karen Louis Whiteread

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
Last Christmas I was in prison. This year I'm working in a London fine-dining restaurant
Christmas

Last Christmas I was in prison. This year I'm working in a London fine-dining restaurant

'Christmas is out': Meet the pensioners cancelling Christmas over Labour's winter fuel payment cuts
Winter Fuel Payment

'Christmas is out': Meet the pensioners cancelling Christmas over Labour's winter fuel payment cuts

Teacher of the Year winner Oli McVeigh: 'Boys are bottling up and repressing lots of different ideas'
Teacher of the year Oli McVeigh
Education

Teacher of the Year winner Oli McVeigh: 'Boys are bottling up and repressing lots of different ideas'

Assisted dying is a step closer to being legalised – but are the safeguards tough enough?
kim leadbeater talking about her assisted dying bill
Assisted dying

Assisted dying is a step closer to being legalised – but are the safeguards tough enough?

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know