Last week refugee friends, volunteers and staff at JRS visited the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in South West London. The trip was organised as part of JRS’s provision of activities and events designed to help refugee friends explore their talents, enjoy culture, and build community with others.
Dallya Alhorri Refugee Activities coordinator organised the outing which included 16 refugee friends, 3 volunteers and 3 members of staff. It was a joyful and inspiring day spent getting closer to nature.
Dallya thanked refugee friends for coming together with their families and young children. She said:
“Thanks for being there and giving us the chance to see you and feel our family back again . I enjoyed every moment with you! For the little ones, thanks for the greatest, pure moments we had with you all!”
Refugee friends met the JRS community at Kew Gardens station and were full of energy to explore the gardens. Several key attractions were visited throughout the day including the large greenhouse building Palm House, The Great Board Walk borders, the audiovisual outdoor Hive art installation and Kew Palace.
The group stopped in the gardens of the Orangerie for a picnic lunch, which was rounded off with ice creams generously provided by volunteer, Sr Lucia.
One refugee friend commented: “A million thanks to you all at JRS for organising such a lovely outing. Thanks also to the volunteers for the ice cream. I really enjoyed it!”
Refugee friends were very grateful to have the opportunity to visit Kew Gardens, which would otherwise be unaffordable for them and their families.
One refugee friend provided feedback at the end of the day:
“Tired but happy! Thank you for a great day. It was good to visit Kew Gardens in a very friendly group”
Another refugee friend expressed excitement at the prospect of further outings:
“Thank you Dallya, the awesome volunteer teams, the fantastic participating friends and family of the JRS network; for making the Kew Gardens day out tour a fabulous and memorable event! We all certainly enjoyed ourselves the whole time without a doubt! Hopefully there will be more of this type of events in the coming future! Thank you so much once again it was a blast!”
Refugee activities at JRS rely on your donations.
Donate to our Refugee Hardship Fund today and help us continue visits like this in the future.
Donate now to JRS’s refugee activities