Nightlife
At Dance For Refuge, fundraising for those in need begins on the dancefloor
Pulling together DJs and collectives from the capital and beyond, Dance For Refuge have raised over £25,000 for those affected by conflict, persecution and crisis across the globe.
By the end of 2015, the UN Refugee Agency reported a total of 65.3 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of conflict and persecution – an average of 24 displaced people every minute for 365 days. 911,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Europe that year – many fleeing crises in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – and 3,550 lives were lost on the journey. Amongst those was a three-year-old boy Syrian named Alan Kurdi, whose body washed ashore in Turkey on September 2.
It was in that same month in 2015 that Max Sztyber and Tim Hinson created Dance For Refuge. Compelled to help in whatever way they could as the refugee crisis worsened, on September 27 they took over the multi-tiered complex that is Peckham's Bussey Building and threw a party to raise money for Médicins Sans Frontières, and gather supplies for Calais Action. They pulled together a hefty line-up of more than 20 DJs and collectives, including Leon Vynehall and A1 Bassline’s Laszlo Dancehall project, NTS breakfast show host CharlieBones and Eglo Records selector AlexanderNut. But crucially, they raised £2,500 and collected sleeping bags, clothes and other items for those in need.
Meant only to be a one-off fundraiser, as the crisis progressed into 2016 they decided to continue and build DFR into a regular and solid platform. Since, they’ve hosted parties in clubs all over the capital, bringing onboard names like FloatingPoints, MinorScience, AuntieFlo and Peach in support of a range of charities helping those affected by war and persecution. And this Friday, on International Women’s Day, they’ll be hosting two events at London’s FOLD and Manchester’s The White Hotel, raising funds for Women for Refugee Women who support women seeking asylum in the UK.
Below, Dance For Refuge's Natasha Shehata and Tim Hinson talk about why we should all be partying for a cause.
Dance For Refuge have hosted parties at Five Miles, Corsica Studios and V&A
© Amber Felix
How did Dance For Refuge first come about? What were some of your motivations for setting up the first fundraiser?
Tim: Dance For Refuge was born in the summer of 2015, which was a time when the UK press was awash with horrifying stories and images emerging from the 'Jungle' camp in Calais and across the Mediterranean. Max Stzyber, who founded Dance For Refuge alongside a number of South London promoters, had heard reports from friends who’d been visiting the Calais camp to help, [and he] felt that he had to do something, however small.
From there, as a team we tried to pull in as many favours as possible, assembling a lineup featuring Leon Vynehall, Seb Wildblood and promoters like Soul Control, Fever 105, Lucid etc. For this first event, we primarily aimed to secure provisions for those in the Calais camp and sold tickets on a 'donate what you can' basis. There was and still is an incredibly strong community built around music in South East London, so we wanted to harness this to do good on a wider scale.
Can you run down who makes up the Dance For Refuge team?
Natasha: We recently expanded our team to a group of 11. We’ve got a fantastic team of people involved whose day jobs vary from artists to working in the NHS. I work in the music industry and Tim works in events and marketing. Having such a variety of amazing people to support Dance For Refuge is so helpful – we all have day jobs and work on this as a side project.
What have been some of your favourite Dance For Refuge party moments over the years?
Natasha: One of my favourite party moments was selling out Corsica Studios on a Wednesday night at 11pm. This was our craziest party of 2017 with Mall Grab making one of his first appearances in London. He was joined by ShyOne, Dance For Refugee’s Will Lister, Auntie Flo and Ruf Dug as we raised money for Help Refugees. It was just amazing to see the turnout and support from people on a weekday – we managed to raise £2,250 that night.
Can you talk a bit about some of the organisations you’ve supported through your parties, and the importance of raising funds (over £25,000 in total so far), awareness and supplies for refugees and those living under war conditions?
Tim: We’ve worked with a big range of different charities over the years to date: Médecins Sans Frontières, War Child, Help Refugees, Refugees at Home and now, with our events this Friday, Women for Refugee Women. We’ve also worked with non-profit organisations like Human Needs Development, who work on the ground in Yemen providing much-needed food and water to those who need it most. They kept us updated on how the money we raised was used (to the penny) and were a pleasure to work with from day one.
Through our events in partnership with the V&A, who for the last two years have invited us to host the closing party for their National Refugee Week programme, we’ve aimed to raise awareness rather than funds. Though the refugee crisis has quietened down in the UK press, there is still so so much that can be done.
Dance For Refuge host a party for National Refugee Week at the V&A
© Jake Davis
In what ways do you think nightclubs can be used as a valuable space for political and social action, and engaging people with issues such as the refugee crisis?
Natasha: It’s easy to feel completely helpless and very separated from the ongoing refugee crisis. With our fundraisers, we aim to bridge that gap by giving people a space and opportunity to support these causes and charities who continue to work on supporting those affected. Although our work by no means is able to solve the ongoing crisis, we aim to make people aware that the crisis is still very much ongoing.
Though the refugee crisis has quietened down in the UK press, there is still so so much that can be done.
By supporting a range of different charities that all provide vital work, we want to make people aware of the breadth of issues surrounding ongoing conflict. There are a lot of psychosocial support that’s needed once people reach safety, which War Child focus on, and Refugees at Home do amazing work in connecting people with spare rooms in the UK with asylum seekers and refugees in need of accommodation.
Beyond club nights, you’ve also put on a couple of events at the V&A. How has it felt to bring the work you do into institutions such as these?
Natasha: The annual show that we do with the V&A is really quite special, and one you can bring the whole family down to! This was our first event that wasn’t a club night. It was so nice to see people of all ages dancing. The event is totally different to anything we normally do as we don’t raise money; it is instead the closing party for Refugee Week and aims to celebrate the impact that refugees have in the community. We’re very lucky to be working with them and the Counterpoint Arts team again this year to on June 21, and we’ll hopefully be programming some extra work with them too, not just music.
What is your approach to booking DJs for Dance For Refuge parties?
Natasha: With booking DJs it’s definitely a collaborative effort – there’s always a few artists that we’ve been trying to get down for a while that we go to first. We also like to showcase new talent with each show, too.
The events this Friday will be at FOLD and The White Hotel in London and Manchester respectively – what drew you to these two spaces?
Tim: We’ve been friends with the SHAPES collective who operate FOLD for a while and have been desperate to do something together. A few of the team members went to the launch last year and were incredibly impressed, not just by the ethos of the space which closely mirrors our own, but by the production values and community feeling – [it's] so strange thinking about it being the first event at a warehouse venue.
The V&A main entrance transforms into a dance floor at Dance For Refuge
© Amber Felix
And The White Hotel was a very easy decision. Tim lives with Danuka who runs So Flute in Manchester and he came back from a party at The White Hotel raving about the space, so when the option to collaborate with B.L.O.O.M. on and IWD event at The White Hotel appeared, we jumped at the chance.
Can you talk about the charity, Women for Refugee Women, you’re supporting this Friday?
Natasha: The work they do is truly invaluable. They support and empower women who seek asylum in the UK in a variety of different ways; this includes giving English lessons, workshops, and providing advice, to running projects in drama and art to project these women’s stories. The charity also campaigns for a fairer asylum process in the UK and work closely to inform politicians on current issues. For example, they are currently running a campaign called ‘Set Her Free’, campaigning for more support for refugee women left destitute in the UK, as many of these women are left vulnerable to exploitation and violence due to being homeless. Currently, the UK is the only country in Europe where indefinite detention is legal.
Why have you decided to host this on International Women’s Day?
Natasha: When we came across the charity Women for Refugee Women we thought that hosting a fundraiser on IWD would be perfect. The charity is run by women for women, and we wanted to also showcase some of the talent of our favourite DJs. This seemed a perfect opportunity to raise money and awareness for a charity which aims to challenge the injustices that women face when seeking asylum in the UK.
Do you have any advice for those inspired by the work you do, and would like to set up a fundraiser club night of their own?
Tim: If we had one bit of advice, I think it would have to be: stick with it. Promoting parties in 2019 is incredibly tough, but seeing the difference you can make by bringing together a community of like-minded individuals and DJs with a common aim of improving the lives of others, is incredibly special.
What are some of your future plans for Dance For Refuge?
Natasha: We’re always looking at ways to expand! We’d love to start working with festivals to curate stages and make people aware of some of the amazing charities we work with.
Tim: We’re hosting three more fundraisers this year, in a variety of venues across the UK, so keep an eye out!
Dance For Refuge host two parties at Manchester's The White Hotel and London's FOLD on Friday March 8. Tickets for both nights can be found here.
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