Culture at the Bombed Out Church

About Culture at the Bombed Out Church

Culture at the Bombed Out Church is a family-friendly event that celebrates the beauty of culture. Enjoy live performances, craft activities, and hear from high-profile speakers who share our mission to end HBA and harmful practices.

‘Honour’-based abuse (HBA) and harmful practices happen here in the UK, and are too often wrongly seen as part of a person’s culture. Culture is beautiful, and this event celebrates culture while separating it from abuse.

Event details

Date Sat 29th August 2026

Time 1pm – 5pm

Address St Luke’s Bombed Out Church, Leece Street, Liverpool, L1 2TR

What to expect

Culture at the Bombed Out Church is a family-friendly event that celebrates the beauty of culture. Enjoy live performances, storytelling workshops, and hear from high-profile speakers who share our mission to end HBA and harmful practices.

Full Line-Up
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Katumba Drumming & Movement
Felix Ngindu – drummer and percussionist
Dancing Queens – wellbeing and carnival collective artistically directed by Ithalia Johnson
MD Productions
Liverpool Arabic Centre
Luma Creations – Inti Tusuy dance group
Random Acts of Wildness Disability (RAWD) Choir
Liverpool Rainbow Chorus Choir

Speakers
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Afrah Qassim

CEO, Savera UK

Founder and CEO of Savera UK, a leading national charity working to end ‘honour’-based abuse and harmful practices. Afrah is also the Chair of Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) and winner of the Woman of Courage Award by Merseyside Women of the Year Awards 2022.

Emily Spurrell

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Merseyside

Emily is in her second term as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Merseyside. She was first elected in May 2021 and re-elected in May 2024 with 61.7% of the public vote. As PCC, Emily has prioritised preventing crime, tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), improving police scrutiny and transparency, and supporting victims of crime.

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To be announced soon…

Activities throughout the day
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Free Henna art
Learn to write your name in Arabic with Liverpool Arabic Centre
Arts & crafts activities for kids (including origami and carnival mask designing)
Bombed Out Church Garden Bar & Cafe open as usual
Eat Up Gud food stall
Raffle including a chance to win a 3-night stay at a 5-star caravan park at Thornley Leisure
And more!

Stay up to date with event announcements

Be the first to know about updates on this event and future ones!

Community partners

Thank you to our community partners for bringing their cultures and communities to make this day a true celebration.

Want to get involved?

We’re always looking for volunteers to support the work that we do. However, if you can’t volunteer but would like to support our work in another way, you can also make a donation.

What is ‘honour’-based abuse?

HBA is a crime or incident that has or may have been committed to protect or defend the ‘honour’ of the family and/or community. The perpetrator or perpetrators feel that the only way to restore family ‘honour’ is to harm or kill. HBA is not a cultural practice. Abuse is never part of culture. Too often, it is wrongly conflated with culture or tradition, when in reality, culture is beautiful. There is no excuse for abuse.