In today’s social and political climate, it can often feel like you are battling a flood of never-ending anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiments, and it can make it difficult to feel like you are enacting worthwhile change. However, organisations like SolidariTee are striving to support the rights of refugees and make tangible change possible.
SolidariTee is a charity based in cities around the UK working to fundraise for NGOs which support refugees in Greece with legal processes and mental health services. As the name suggests, one primary means of SolidariTee’s fundraising campaign is through selling t-shirts with designs created by people who have been involved in the refugee crisis. Therefore, each set of designs is unique and represents an individual and their story. But selling t-shirts is certainly not the only thing that Solidaritee do.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Gillian and Hannah, the co-team-leads of the Edinburgh branch, who are both in their fourth year of university. Along with their team of volunteers, they work to put on fundraising events in the city. Recently, they have hosted a ‘sip and craft’ evening, to which the response to was overwhelmingly positive, and they even ran out of tickets due to high demand. More events like this are in the works, and for fans of jazz, keep your eyes peeled, as Hannah hinted that they may be running a jazz night soon.
Both Gillian and Hannah said they found out about SolidariTee through an email sent out over the summer and wanted to get involved with some volunteer work. “I’ve always been interested in the humanitarian sector,” said Hannah, “and refugees and displaced people are something I’ve always felt quite strongly about.” In their roles, they are responsible for hitting fundraising goals for the Edinburgh branch, and even though they are only one branch of a national organisation, Gillian said that “We have a lot of freedom with the events we put on.”
As well as their social events, their t-shirts form a core part of the fundraising movement. “Our t-shirts are a vehicle for change,” said Gillian. This certainly seems true when you find out that “One £12 tee could cover a day’s rent in a small NGO office space” and “50 tees could cover the salaries of a Greek lawyer and a caseworker for a week.” By supporting these organisations, tangible change can be enacted for refugees in Greece who are in need of mental health support or access to legal services.
“A really nice thing about SolidariTee is that it’s completely volunteer-based, so no one gets paid, even the CEO,” Hannah said. Gillian agreed, claiming that “everyone in the team has the same values, so it’s easy to get along with everyone.” While not officially affiliated with the university, SolidariTee naturally attracts a lot of students and young people to both its volunteering team and its fundraising events, creating a friendly and like-minded community. “Anyone can get involved at whatever level, whatever your time commitment. It is really a very good cause,” said Hannah.
The SolidariTee community extends across the UK, and Hannah feels that there is “a connection to students all across the country” since SolidariTee branches are often based out of university cities. Gillian spoke of the potential for a future collaboration with other Scottish branches of SolidariTee – an exciting prospect for the future of this branch.
As well as raising funds, SolidariTee aims to educate people on the treatment of asylum seekers. “I think that’s one of the most important things,” said Hannah, “people actually learning about the situation that’s going on and how our country treats and responds to asylum seekers.” Both team leads spoke about the potential to host informative panels in the future to provide education and to inspire activism among young people.
One of Hannah’s hopes for the future of SolidariTee is to “increase [its] presence on campus,” and Gillian said she would like to “build a nice community of people.” With the recent turnout at their “sip and craft” event and the community that event already began to foster, it seems that these goals are certainly attainable for this organisation.
It is clear that SolidariTee is an organisation that values accessible education, as their website boasts a plethora of infographics, a glossary, and other useful information regarding humanitarian crises. Freely accessible information like this is imperative for people to be able to take charge of their own education on these important topics, and it helps to tackle the excuse of ignorance that many are quick to cite to defend their inaction in the face of humanitarian crises.
Overall, the sentiment of the entire organisation is well summed up in Hannah’s words: “Refugee rights are human rights.” Amid a rise in far-right politics across Europe, organisations like this could not be more crucial in supporting and protecting the rights of vulnerable people. While it is a relatively minor part of our lives to buy a t-shirt or go to a fundraising event, that participation could change someone else’s life for the better.
Image courtesy of Naomi Abraham, provided to The Student for press use.