STAR Ceilidh 2025

Last week, Conor and I led an incredibly successful ceilidh in collaboration with fellow student organisation Slurp (Students for Action on Homelessness) at Lauriston Hall, Edinburgh. The evening’s proceeds will be split equally between Edinburgh Community Sponsorship Homes and Slurp’s fantastic volunteering initiatives at Bethany House and the Leith and Southside Community cafes. The ECSH is a newly-established sibling organisation of the Edinburgh Refugee Sponsorship Circle, a charity STAR Edinburgh works closely with. We are therefore very excited to support the ECSH as they begin their good work. 

The ECSH hopes to secure long-term, affordable housing for refugees in Edinburgh, all while being considerate of the current housing emergency in the city. The charity emphasises the value of stability and warmth in their work, which primarily relies upon donations and community support. The ceilidh, which I am proud to say sold out, will directly support these efforts. 

We are very grateful to the 7 Hills Ceilidh Band for their incredible performance and Lauriston Hall for being such a good venue. We also would like to thank the numerous businesses who kindly provided us with raffle prizes. The extent of generosity and enthusiasm we received has been entirely amazing and speaks for the kindness of the Edinburgh community.

After such a successful first fundraiser, Conor and I are excited to lead our next projects! In a few weeks, we will be hosting a pub quiz in support of The Welcoming, an Edinburgh-based organisation who support refugees through free English classes, advice, and employability support. We also hope to complete a series of smaller fundraisers, including craft sessions and boardgame nights. In the new year, we will be organising a charity concert in support of one of our partner charities and we will continue to pursue collaborative projects with organisations like Slurp and those who share similar values to us.