SolidariTee is the largest student run charity focused on the refugee crisis. As the name suggests, the charity sells T-shirts with unique prints and designs crafted by various refugees and asylum seekers. Not only do the T-shirts raise awareness, but £7.50 of the profit from each £10-12 T-shirt goes directly to small charities providing legal aid and translation services for vulnerable refugees. There are many charities that focus on vital short-term aid for refugees (namely Care4Calais and FAST), so SolidariTee opts to focus on a long-term and sustainable solution to the refugee crisis in the form of legal aid.
The charity was founded in 2016 by Tiara Sahar Ataii, a then first year student at the University of Cambridge. At first, she literally ‘peddled’ the initiative with her own two feet, cycling around Cambridge and selling T-shirts door to door. The campaign went on to receive a Diana award and Tiara herself received the Cambridge Vice Chancellor’s social impact award. Moreover, the campaign has become a testament to the power of the international student community. There are regional campaigns at 50 universities across six different countries; Sheffield University is of course on the list . However, the campaign’s supporters and representatives hope this will be just the beginning.
The prints the organisation uses also reflect the charity’s values. At first glance, the Cambridge-born charity might raise suspicions of perpetuating the idea of the (white) saviour; with a website decorated with images of young middle-class students pairing their vintage jeans with a stylish SolidariTee. However, the organisation uses powerful prints designed by and for refugees and asylum seekers. The design on this year’s Tee was created by refugees in a community centre in northern Greece, depicting an image of the unity and diversity within their community. Consequently, these images are more than just Insta-worthy photos, but depictions of the students standing in solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers.
Furthermore, the T-shirts provide a sustainable and ethical alternative to the fast fashion industry. Not only is this year’s Tee 100% organic but SolidariTee has committed to making all their T-shirts organic by 2022. This T-shirt is also amongst the line of Tees that have all been WRAP certified and thus ethically made.
SolidariTee has recently started an emergency fund for Kitrinos Healthcare to help protect the refugees in Moria camp from the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst the organisation mainly focuses on long term solutions, supporting Kitrinos healthcare gave them an opportunity to contribute to the urgent short-term aid needed in this pandemic.
The 2020-21 Sheffield regional team have also developed strategies to fulfil the charity’s two principal aims of both fundraising and raising awareness. These projects include a weeklong Instagram takeover of the sustainability-oriented society ‘Green and Bop’, starting on Monday 9th November. There will also be a jewellery raffle, a virtual movie night and the big event of the semester is the charity raffle. Of course, the Sheffield SolidariTee representatives would like to encourage as many students as possible to get involved with these.
This year the Sheffield representatives will also start ‘A Place of Refuge’, their own independent Sheffield-based web platform. The platform aims to share resources and spread awareness of the refugee crisis.
Charlie Young, Sheffield SolidariTee Events Co-ordinator and a key contributor to the web platform, reflects on Britain’s attitude to the refugee crisis: “Recent comments by politicians— in this country and beyond— have completely lacked sympathy for people seeking safety.”
Conscious of this harmful narrative, he argues that: “It’s important to work to dispel this negativity and fear and raise funds to help human beings in the most desperate of situations.” It seems the charity is mobilising young activists like Charlie to challenge the rhetoric around the refugee crisis and encourage others to do the same.
In addition to all these projects is the ongoing enterprise of selling T-shirts. T-shirts can be purchased from any of the SolidariTee reps or online. For further information, contact Head Sheffield Representative, Emily Baker (@__emily_baker_ _) on Instagram.
Finally, for any students who would like to know more about SolidariTee’s work and the refugee crisis overall, a list of resources can be found below.
Resources:
Refugee crisis carrd: https://refugeecrisis.carrd.co/
Tiara Sahar Ataii’s Ted talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJG8EqliYsI
The UN refugee agency: https://www.unhcr.org/uk/building-awareness.html
SolidariTee Instagram page: @teesofsolidarity
Sheffield University Society @GreenandBop on Instagram
‘A Place of refuge’: https://refugesheffield.wixsite.com/aplaceofrefuge Instagram: @refuge.sheffield
Care4Calais: https://care4calais.org/the-refugee-crisis/
FAST: https://www.f-a-s-t.eu/
The Sheffield SolidariTee team would also like to mention that they are proud to support student photographers, in particular Owais Abid (Instagram: @whyiswestaken), who took several of the photos for this article.