UK for UNHCR and Artist Billie Bond Honour Refugee Experiences with ‘Fragments of Hope’

Creative PR agency The Romans and UK for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s national charity for the UK, have launched a new earned-first campaign for Refugee Week 2025.

Fragments of Hope is a celebration of the resilience and contribution of people who have rebuilt their lives in the UK after being forced to flee conflict and persecution, created in collaboration with renowned sculptor and artist Billie Bond.

There are now more than 122 million people displaced by conflict and persecution worldwide. Behind every number is a personal journey of survival and hope. In honour of this, UK for UNHCR’s latest campaign centres around a unique Kintsugi tea set that reflects the individual stories of six storytellers from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ukraine, Sudan and Syria.

The Japanese art of Kintsugi, meaning to mend with gold, repairs pottery by acknowledging its fractures and transforming them into something beautiful. Similarly, the unique Fragments of Hope tea set reminds us that, while the challenges of forced displacement should not be underestimated, piece by piece, lives can be rebuilt.

The artwork, developed by Billie Bond, brings together fragments of traditional tea sets from Ukraine, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan, including personal contributions by people who were themselves forced to flee their homes:

• Viktoriia from Ukraine, a dedicated community development coordinator;
  
• Ayman from Syria, a self-taught filmmaker and storyteller;
  
• Sadia from Pakistan, an award-winning artist and advocate;
  
• Bashir from Sudan, a renowned poet and musician; and mother and daughter duo,
  
• Frozan and Victoria from Afghanistan, a mother and daughter duo who support their community as an interpreter and an aspiring business leader, respectively.
  

Within this unique tea set, every fragment carries a piece of story, collectively forming a symbol of hope, resilience and the strength of community. 

The film was captured by Witness London, with photography taken by Ayman Alhussein.

Mark MacDonald, communications director for UK for UNHCR, said, “Nobody chooses to be a refugee – being forced to flee war or persecution can leave lives and communities torn asunder at a moment's notice. As we mark Refugee Week, we hope this campaign will inspire people to learn more and show their solidarity for refugees worldwide. Our particular thanks to Billie Bond for contributing her time and expertise so generously to create this thought-provoking piece and to the storytellers who have shared their personal journeys of displacement with such courage.”

​Beth Arnold, creative and UK Cannes Young Lions winner at The Romans said, “Fragments of Hope is one of those once-in-a-career kind of briefs that reminds you why you do the work you do - to tell stories that matter and create campaigns with real world impact.