Kent is delighted that PhD scholar, Basma Taysir El Doukhi, and her social enterprise, Roouh, have been selected as one of the 30 winners of the 2025 Visa Everywhere Pioneers awards for Europe.  This award celebrates the remarkable achievements of female refugee entrepreneurs across Europe.

Roouh, a social enterprise co-founded by Basma in 2023, sources hand-made products stitched by skilled Palestinian refugee women who are living in the twelve Palestinian camps across Lebanon. In doing so, it provides a platform for these women to showcase their art and tell their stories through selling their goods in the UK and globally.

Basma, originally from Palestine herself, told us what inspired her to start ROOUH: ‘Roouh came about because I was committed and determined to use art and embroidery as a powerful bridge between empathy and action—giving Palestinian refugee women not just income, but dignity and a voice. By sharing their stories and showcasing their artistry, it empowers them to reclaim identity and hope in their protracted displacement, while inspiring others to see beauty and strength in their resistance.’

Basma leads the enterprise alongside her work with the British Red Cross supporting and managing community resilience projects  in the UK. She is also a Rebecca Dykes Chevening scholar, and Global Challenges Doctoral Centre scholarship awardee studying a PhD with Kent’s School of Social Sciences which is examining how members of Syrian and Afghan associations resist externally imposed identities, and re-narrate their experiences in ways that reclaim agency, complexity, and plurality.

Talking about her work, Basma said: ‘As someone who has experienced statelessness and displacement, I have transformed personal hardship into purposeful action. Through Roouh, I’ve worked to create safe, creative, and participatory spaces that challenge stereotypes and centre voices that are often silenced. Our work blends art, storytelling, community dialogue, and feminist practice to not only address trauma and social isolation, but also to amplify leadership,  cultural resistance, and joy. I have mentored young refugee women and supported their journeys in becoming confident advocates for themselves and their communities.’

The award committee commended Basma’s innovation and impact as a business leader, saying: ‘We are thrilled to be supporting her on the next stage of her entrepreneurial journey. We celebrate her entrepreneurial skills, creativity, innovation and leadership skills, which are driving positive impact on a local, regional and national scale.’

As part of Kent’s continued commitment to our Sanctuary work, Dr Rachel Gregory Fox, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow writes about her recent series of workshops for students from Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN) which focused on storytelling.

‘In answer to the theme of this year’s Refugee Week, ‘Community as a Superpower’, we invited students to the University of Kent campus to explore the many ways that we tell stories about community, through drama, art, and poetry, and the ways that crafting and telling stories can help us to build spaces of community.

KRAN is a registered charity organisation which has supported young unaccompanied refugees and asylum seekers in Kent since 2003. Amongst numerous mentoring and advocacy schemes, KRAN’s Learning for Life education programme supports young asylum seekers to develop their English language, and equips them with knowledge, skills, and strategies to help them navigate everyday life in the UK, and to transition to college and other vocational pathways.

The workshops represent one branch of my research project into modes of storytelling about and amongst refugee and migratory communities, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Part of the intent for these workshops was to work directly with the communities who my research focuses on, and to exalt the process of learning as a valuable research and pedagogical outcome unto itself. Organised with input from Nigel Pantling, the director of KRAN’s Learning for Life programme, the workshops sought to support the learning and social journeys of their students. The KRAN teaching team, and University of Kent PhD candidates Arcin Celikesmer and Vicky Sharples, worked alongside myself, Nigel, and invited instructors and creatives, to create a space of engaged and community-driven learning for students.

The first workshop, headed by Emma Willatts (Gulbenkian), energised students coming together from KRAN’s Canterbury and Folkestone hubs for the first time, and built towards the creation (in small groups) of tableaux and short performances of moments of friendship, community, and celebration. There was dancing, custom handshakes, a convincingly staged boxing match, and a marriage ceremony performed, amongst many other examples.

The following week, artist Dan Thompson guided students in collaging maps of their world—maps shaped not just by place and language, but by the things that ground us, such as our hobbies, conscience, and beliefs, as well as our aspirations. Shoulder-to-shoulder, students got busy tearing and sticking paper and stencilling words, to create maps of their shared roots, values, and hopes.

The third, and final, workshop was led by Dr Kat Lewis. After unveiling the maps the students had made the previous week, students set out to craft poems founded on the things that make us who we are. Throughout, Kat emphasised the importance of each student and their values to the world around them, even when that world can feel alienating and hostile. The poems the students wrote, and which some performed, were delivered with honesty, imagination, openness, humour, and confidence. Their poems represented a celebratory culmination of three days hard work, which focused not just on student learning, but also on creating a safe and sociable community space where they were able to explore the value of their own, and each other’s, stories.

Throughout, I was impressed by the creativity of KRAN’s students, and moved by their stories. It has been a privilege and a joy to work with KRAN in the organisation and facilitation of these workshops and to be able to support a part of these young people’s learning journey.’

Research can be a powerful tool in helping society address issues related to migration and movement. At Kent, it’s producing evidence to inform policy decision making and empowering refugees and migrants to shape their own narrative, ultimately working towards improving the lives of these vulnerable communities.

Broadening mental health support

Refugees and migrants are often at greater risk of developing mental health problems, including depression, PTSD and anxiety disorders. Dr Jessica C. Fisher, a Research Fellow in the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, recently collaborated with researchers from across the UK and Germany to examine how refugees and migrants can benefit from outdoor health interventions. Through a series of focus groups and surveys, she and her co-researchers found that the opportunities for shared experiences, being outdoors, and gaining new knowledge about the local landscape helped to enhance the health and wellbeing of participants. It suggests that this could prove an innovative, cost-effective and scalable option for improving support during resettlement processes.

Changing the narrative

How do we ethically tell the stories of refugees and migrants? Dr Rachel Gregory Fox, a Leverhulme Research Fellow in the School of Humanities, has been addressing this question since 2021. She set out to understand how refugees and migrants have been represented in public discourse and to consider strategies for listening to and comprehending their stories. As part of her work, she has examined creative and community responses that have arisen in response to several events, including the European refugee ‘crisis’ (2015), the Windrush scandal (2018), and the Brook House Inquiry (commissioned in 2019). Her relationship with organisations such as KRAN is enabling her to take into account the direct experiences of refugees and migrants, which she hopes will contribute towards a more ethical and just language for talking to and about their communities in the UK.

Improving refugee employability

Data reveals significant employment disparities of 20% between refugees and the broader UK population. While research has shed light on individual and organisational challenges for refugees, the role of local government in closing this gap has largely underexplored until recently. Dr Joel Montgomery, a Lecturer in Kent Business School, has been interviewing figures in local councils in the Southeast to investigate how they address the issue of refugee employment and employability with the aim of revealing the way in which government activity ‘on the ground’ supports or impedes the employment opportunities available to refugees.

Kent is proud to announce that we have been awarded ‘University of Sanctuary’ status in recognition and celebration of our values and the work we do to exemplify a commitment to welcome people seeking sanctuary.  

The Sanctuary Award means Kent joins a list of other prestigious Universities of Sanctuary – including our partners through the Eastern Arc research consortium whose upcoming conference will focus on themes related to migration and movement. 

Speaking about what this award means to Kent, Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, Acting Vice Chancellor at Kent said: ‘We are honoured by this award and proud to be part of a movement that stands for compassion, dignity, and inclusion. As a university, we are committed to creating a place of safety and belonging for all. Our work inspires us to look beyond the classroom and into our wider role as a civic institution, with universities not just centres of learning but also active contributors to our wider communities.’ 

The decision was made after a visit from the Sanctuary Awards team in May, where the panel learnt about the various initiatives, scholars and local partnerships that we have been supporting.  

Talking about Kent’s work, and why we have been recognised, Sian Summers-Rees Chair of City of Sanctuary UK and Kent Alumna said: ‘We very much enjoyed learning more about all your incredible efforts to promote sanctuary and welcome at the University. It was most apparent hearing from the scholars that the university has gone above and beyond to provide the support needed. The University-wide commitment to promoting welcome across the University and beyond was also very evident and made me particularly proud of being a University of Kent alumna.’  

The day included talks from our current and former Sanctuary scholars, who spoke about their time at Kent and how the university has supported and inspired them. One of these, Makomborero Haruzivishe, said: ‘The Sanctuary Scholarship at the University of Kent gave me hope in a hopeless world, re-connected me with ambitions I thought were lost. I am in charge today, empowered to chart my own path, strengthened by the indispensable support the Sanctuary Scholarship award has given me. I will forever be grateful.’ 

This award is further recognition of the work happening across the university to provide a warm, welcoming and supportive community to anyone, irrespective of their background. As well as refugees and asylum seekers, this includes empowering underrepresented students and those who may not have had higher education expectations through our wider outreach work.  

Recent work in this area has included a new ‘Championing Boys’ initiative to address barriers faced by boys in education, along with a special Spring School for care experienced young people looking to access University.  

More about our Sanctuary work can be found here. 

As we reach the milestone of three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Professor Paul Allain is working with the university’s Special Collections team to make a cultural contribution to support the country.  

Professor Allain from the School of Arts and Architecture visited Ukraine in summer 1993, when he was finishing his PhD about Polish theatre. His visit to rural areas of Polissia, Poltava and Bessarabia – which are all now facing regular bombardment – was with Polish company Gardzienice and specifically Ukrainian singer and collaborator Mariana Sadovska. The pair went across the country to meet villagers and record traditional songs and music as preparation for a subsequent visit by the theatre group.   

Thirty-two years later, Professor Allain learnt that Sadovska had created an archive which included his photos as well as some of their recordings. Crucially, he realised that for Bessarabia, which borders Romania, the music was missing.  

With the expert help of Special Collections, he has now digitised his own collection of songs, music and stories recorded in the field, contained on seven cassette tapes, and shared them with Sadovska and her colleague Jurij Josyfovych, who is working on the archive’s technical side.  

Professor Paul Allain says: ‘As Ukraine faces the spectre of Russia trying to erase its people and culture, such memorialisation and recording of their rich musicality and heritage has a renewed purpose. I’m extremely proud of how I and the wider university have been able to make this small cultural contribution to support Ukraine’s fight.’  

Sadovska and Josyfovych thanked Professor Allain and colleagues in Special Collections as well as the UK more widely for their ‘unwavering support’ in these ‘turbulent days’.  

Article by Anna Pollard

Steve Walker, Chairman of Walker Construction, and Caroline Walker visited the Canterbury Campus today to present a cheque to Samantha Scott, Philanthropy Manager and one of our talented Sanctuary Scholars, whose identity needs to remain anonymous.

The University of Kent is working to be a safe and welcoming place for refugees and asylum seekers. The gift from The Walker Construction Trust will help ensure we can provide our Sanctuary Scholars with the equipment and furnishing items they need when they arrive at university, often alone and without basic belongings.

Our Sanctuary Scholarships provide a fee waiver and limited maintenance grant to up to five students each year, aimed at helping those seeking asylum in the UK to progress with their higher education. The Sanctuary Fund aims to help provide a level of maintenance closer to that received by most other students through Student Finance, to ensure Sanctuary Scholars can live well while they study.

The University of Kent’s Sanctuary Scholarships form part of a wider programme of work towards becoming a University of Sanctuary. Through academic research, public engagement and collaborations with partners, we use our platform to advocate for safety and empowerment for people seeking sanctuary.

One of our Sanctuary Scholars said, “I had lost hope. My Sanctuary Scholarship has given me hope. Now I can see a future where I can use my education and experience to help make the world a better place for everyone. The University of Kent has given me a home where I can feel safe. This support from The Walker Construction Trust will help students like me, who have been forced to leave behind their studies, homes, families and friends. We are so thankful for this generosity.”

Steve Walker added, “We have been completely blown away by meeting some of the Sanctuary Scholars studying at the University of Kent. Their stories of strength and perseverance, despite horrors and challenges that we can’t even imagine, are astounding. I am honoured, on behalf of The Walker Construction Trust, to contribute to the Sanctuary Scholars being able to complete their studies. Their plans for the future are remarkable and I have no doubt their mark on our community and our world will be very positive.”

On behalf of the University of Kent and our Sanctuary Scholars, we thank The Walker Construction Trust for their generosity.