Sample plane of hope and love

Hastings’ Community Fill the Skies with Hope

On a wet and windy Sunday (30 October), 75 people including families gathered in Bottle Alley to make brightly coloured orange paper airplanes carrying messages of hope and welcome to refugees.  They were then launched, Filling the Skies with Hope. Polly Gifford writes.

The event was organised by Hastings Community of Sanctuary and is part of a national campaign to urge the new Prime Minister and Home Secretary to review its policy to send refugees to Rwanda. The paper airplanes will all be sent to Sally Ann Hart MP asking her to represent our views to the government. A spokesperson said: “The message we want to get across is that refugees are people who deserve to be treated with compassion and not punished for daring to seek a better life. We are asking that this government extends the same compassion and welcome to refugees that the Prime Minister’s family had.”

750 people attended the event

Messages written on the airplanes included,

Refuge is a human right
Hope not Hate
People should be treated with compassion
No flights to Rwanda

One of the local children taking part wrote: ‘Families and children have come all this way to be safe and you say out. This needs to stop.’

A short video of the event is available here.
#Filling The Skies with Hope

Creating planes of hope together

You can see more from Hastings Community of Sanctuary in shops and cafes around the town, and on the seafront, throughout November. Look out for the bright neon posters with responses from recently arrived refugees to the question: ‘What does nature mean to you?’.  These simple but moving statements highlight our common experience of the town.

Here are some of the statements:
“I go to the park. I look at the people. I watch my son Adnan playing. I feel the hot sun on my face. I smell the flowers. I love my family.”

“I go to the beach. I walk on the seafront with my family. I see the waves and blue sky. I feel happy when the sun smiles to me.”

Also in: Campaigns