The Transports Human Cargo
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Our partner organisations inBedford

Bedfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support

Our partner organisations inBerwick-upon-Tweed

Berwick Migrant Support Group Northumberland County of Sanctuary

Our partner organisations inBeverley

Open Doors Hull

Our partner organisations inBlackburn

People's Enterprise and Empowerment Forum (PEEF)

Our partner organisations inBristol

Bristol Refugee Rights Bristol City of Sanctuary

Our partner organisations inBromsgrove

Bromsgrove & Redditch Welcome Refugees

Our partner organisations inBury

Eagle's Wing

Our partner organisations inBury St Edmunds

Suffolk Refugee Support

Our partner organisations inBuxton

Hummingbird Project

Our partner organisations inCambridge

Cambridge City of Sanctuary

Our partner organisations inChesterfield

ASSIST Sheffield

Our partner organisations inCrawley

Eastern Stream

Our partner organisations inDorchester

Verne Visitors Group Dorset Race Equality Council

Our partner organisations inDurham

Durham for Refugees Durham City of Sanctuary

Our partner organisations inExeter

Exeter City of Sanctuary Refugee Support Devon

Our partner organisations inGlasgow

Positive Action in Housing

Our partner organisations inHalesworth

Suffolk Refugee Support Friends of Refugees Suffolk

Our partner organisations inLeeds

Leeds Asylum Seekers' Support Network

Our partner organisations inLiverpool

Support for Wigan Arrivals Project (SWAP)

Our partner organisations inManchester

Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit

Our partner organisations inMatlock

Derby Refugee Advice Centre

Our partner organisations inNewcastle

Action Foundation

Our partner organisations inNorwich

New Routes

Our partner organisations inPreston

Preston City of Sanctuary

Our partner organisations inSt Albans

Herts Welcomes Syrian Families St Albans for Refugees

Our partner organisations inSettle

Bentham Area Refugee Support Group

Our partner organisations inShoreham-by-Sea

Brighton & Hove Sanctuary on Sea

Our partner organisations inShrewsbury

Shropshire Supports Refugees

Our partner organisations inSouthampton

Southampton City of Sanctuary CLEAR Project World Stages Now

Our partner organisations inWavendon

Refugees Welcome Milton Keynes

Our partner organisations inYeovil

Sherborne Area Refugee Support Refugee Aid from Taunton

What is Parallel Lives?

Think of a town. Your town, maybe. Think of all the people who, at some point, have lived there. Those who’ve come, those who’ve left, and those few whose families have never moved.

What of the people who departed – where did they go, will they return? Think of those who arrived – what roots have they planted? And who will come next?

The world’s oceans have always teemed with humans on the move. Migration sits at the heart of history. And many of those migrants are refugees, forced onto dangerous journeys.

Back in the 1600s, Brick Lane in East London filled with Huguenots escaping France. Later on, those same buildings welcomed Irish escaping famine, then Jews escaping pogroms in Russia. Now the area is mainly Bangladeshi. And what was once a church, then a synagogue, is now a mosque.

Few places transform so radically as Brick Lane, but every community evolves. Such change is inevitable, which brings a strange consolation – for it frees us from seeing today’s tensions as irresolvable.

Let’s not kid ourselves, these are tense times. Seldom before has British politics been so riven with fear of the outsider. Migration is a defining dilemma of our time – a dilemma in which people cannot help but take sides.

So let’s try and bridge that gap. Let’s take a wider look at our communities. Let’s chart the PARALLEL LIVES of people who have lived here at different times. Let’s see what links, in Norwich, the maid who left for Australia in 1787 with the dentist who arrived from Damascus in 2015. Or what links, in Shrewsbury, the labourer who left for New South Wales in 1817 with the Polish mechanic who settled there after the Second World War.

Maybe, by seeing what we have in common – whether as Britons forced abroad or foreigners driven to these shores – we may fear the future less.

Meet our partners

Wherever we perform Human Cargo or The Transports, we invite local refugee or migrant support groups to the show.They tell people about their work and gain contacts and supporters for the future. We're honoured to have partnered with some remarkable groups across Britain, some large, some small.

Refugee Welcome Milton Keynes were our partner when we took the show to The Stables at Wavendon.
Refugee Welcome Milton Keynes were our partner when we took the show to The Stables at Wavendon.

We'd love to hear from you

Matthew Crampton

Email: info@matthewcrampton.com

Website: http://www.matthewcrampton.com/

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