Summary
Today Clare is walking in Surrey with a group of asylum seekers who are former detainees of the Gatwick Immigration Removal Centres. Alongside them are volunteers from "Refugee Tales" which is a project run by the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group; it involves monthly walks as well as an annual event which combines walking and storytelling. The idea, they say, is to "reclaim the landscape for the language of welcome". Over 50% of those held in Immigration Removal Centres are released back into the UK community though their cases may be unresolved, their living conditions precarious, and their future uncertain. These walks give the former detainees a chance to meet up with their friends, enjoy the countryside and - for just a few hours - forget their challenging and unknown future.
Today the group is in Reigate. The group will walk from the station to the top of Reigate Hill, then along the North Downs ridge where there are views towards Gatwick and the detention centres. They then work their way back along the Pilgrim's Way, and return to the station..
All photos by John Barrett
Producer: Karen Gregor.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I want to tell you why I love podcasting. |
| 0:04.7 | Hi, my name's Tommy Dixon, and I make podcasts for the BBC. |
| 0:08.4 | I'm a big fan of stories, always loved a good book. |
| 0:11.4 | But when I started commuting for my first job, I discovered podcasts. |
| 0:15.4 | I was blown away by how a creative idea and the right mixture of sounds could take you into |
| 0:19.2 | a whole new world full of incredible stories. You know, the type that make you go, wow. And that kind of inspired me to |
| 0:25.2 | give it a go myself, which to cut a long story short led to a BBC training scheme and a whole |
| 0:30.0 | new career given other people that exact same feeling. So if you want to hear amazing stories that |
| 0:34.3 | make you go wow like I did, they're just a tap or click away on BBC |
| 0:38.1 | sounds. |
| 0:39.7 | Hello, I'm Claire Boulding. Thank you so much for downloading this podcast. I hope you enjoy |
| 0:44.0 | ramblings. It's a gorgeous hot bank holiday Monday. And outside Ryegate station in |
| 0:50.4 | Surrey is a group of 40 people. You can hear the gentle murmuring as they greet each other. |
| 0:55.7 | Many of them are wearing blue t-shirts written across them in white writing. |
| 0:59.3 | It says refugee tales. |
| 1:01.3 | And they are the volunteers for an organisation that was set up to help people who've come here to Britain seeking asylum |
| 1:06.9 | and are still waiting in many cases for that judgment to be made. |
| 1:11.2 | And the one thing they have in common is they were all held at the Gatwick detention centres. |
| 1:15.6 | And we'll hear their stories as we walk across Surrey. |
| 1:19.4 | I don't think I've ever walked with a bigger group, though. |
| 1:21.6 | There are so many people. |
| 1:24.7 | And lots of hugging going on as people recognise each other and there's a feeling |
... |
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