Refugee Week: No Place Like Home

Dr Krish Kandiah is a social entrepreneur with a vision to help solve some of society’s seemingly intractable problems through building partnerships across civil society, faith communities, government and philanthropy. He led the Afghan Welcome and UKHK initiatives which have worked with government and civil society to welcome newcomers from Afghanistan and Hong Kong to the UK. He is the director of Sanctuary Foundation, a foster carer, a host in the Homes for Ukraine scheme and sits on the government's Core Delivery Group. He is the author of over 15 books, including two welcome books for resettled Hong Kong and Ukrainian children.

From her early career in theatre Sita’s writing has been grounded in human rights, working in communities with refugee families and young people. Sita co-created and scripted a celebrated theatre production inspired by Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The Arrival (2013). She has been Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants for over a decade. Since her Waterstones Award Winning debut novel, Artichoke Hearts (2011), refugee children seeking sanctuary, empathy and their journeys to thriving has been at the core of Sita’s writing including: Tender Earth (2017), Red Leaves (2014) Where The River Runs Gold (2019), When Secrets Set Sail (2020) and Carnegie shortlisted When Shadows Fall (2023). Sita has been Book Trust Writer in Residence, is Associate Lecturer in Children’s and YA Literature at Goldsmiths University and a Royal Literary Fellow at The British Library.