Speaker
Hamed Amiri
From a harrowing 18 months journey from Afghanistan to UK, cheating death along the way, Hamed Amiri has become the author of the best-selling book of “The Boy With Two Hearts”. Hamed and his family embarked on a perilous journey to seek refuge in the UK in an attempt to prolong his bother Hussein's life. As well as becoming a bestselling book, the story has now been adapted for the stage and has played at venues across the UK.
About Hamed Amiri
When Hamed was 10 years old, he watched his mother give a speech in their home town of Afghanistan, speaking out for women’s rights and education and against the ruling Taliban. That night, an order was given for her execution. Packing up their most precious belongings and escaping in darkness, Hamed’s family started what would be a long and dangerous journey. Hamed’s older brother suffered from a rare heart condition, and this escape also offered a chance of life-saving treatment in the West. Exploring the humanity of refugeeism in his book and play, making a promise to his late brother has been Hamed’s new mission in life: to share their story with a wider audience and showcase diversity in a truly unique way, while ensuring his brother’s legacy lives on through the journey.
Hamed Amiri is the author of the best-selling book, subsequently adapted for the stage for the theatre production of “The Boy With Two Hearts” at Wales Millennium Centre and the National Theatre in London.
Hamed has been public speaking for over 10 years, which started as a passion to make a difference in local schools, universities, sharing his own experience of achieving what might have seemed like the impossible. Sharing his lessons learned on his journey which has allowed him to be able to inspire thousands of people over the years , young and old, from all sectors of the community, on topics such as mental health, D&I, refugee awareness, Grit & Resilience, creating high performance teams and simply inspirational talks to motivate a varied audience.
The local school talks over the years have grown into more expansive opportunities, leading to invitations to be a keynote speaker for organisations such as the British Red Cross, Refugee Council, PwC, NHS, Breaking Barriers, National Theatre, International Baccalaureate and multiple SME organisations and numerous book festivals nationwide.
Hamed’s journey is his success, from not being able to speak a single word of English to being able to write a best selling BBC4 Book of the Week. From getting U’s in his A-levels to getting BSc (Hons) in Computer Science, becoming a respected senior leader within the tech sector, leading multi-million pound projects and becoming one of the youngest board members for Wales’ largest further education college. In addition to his full-time job, Hamed has established himself as a passionate, inspirational speaker, He has learned the key ingredients to achieve the “impossible” and has become a role model to the younger generation, which was recognised when he was awarded -“Inspiring the next generation” by University of South Wales
- My Journey – Discussing my journey as a child, to adulthood which has multiple themes, Refugee journey from Afghanistan to UK, Mental resilience I learned on my journey and how to put into daily life, how I went from not being able to speak a word of English to become best selling author and playwright whilst succeeding in tech sector
- Life lessons – What have I learned over the years as life lessons that can be applied and aid others on their personal journey
- Never Give Up – How I went from 3 U’s in A Levels to Chief of Staff at PWC, published author, play writer
- Process of grief – Talk through my grief process and how I navigated out of it but used the raw energy into something positive and everlasting
- Creating the right culture – What are the key ingredients into creating a right culture and what have I learned over the years in professional environment to create rich, diverse, high performance teams
- It’s ok not being ok – To discuss the mental health aspect of our lives and how I navigated through depression, lack of self belief and how it’s Ok not being Ok, especially being Male/BAME
Videos
Testimonials
"We recently invited Hamed Amiri to be our keynote speaker at The Nation of Sanctuary Award 2023, it was a pleasure to be able to have Hamed amongst us. We were blown away by his story, especially how eloquently he spoke about the difficulties he faced in coming to the UK. I would highly recommend Hamed as an expert speaker for public engagement events. He is a passionate, evocative speaker, who focuses on the reality of a refugees journey through the UK asylum system."
"What inspired me was the quote he said that one of his friends told him which was "Aim for the stars to land on the moon". also, how he never gave up and how he took his brother as a role model and carried on his Legacy."
"He inspired me by to keep trying even if you don't feel like you can make it or achieve it cause you never know what the future can hold if you just don't give up."
"They were surprised how someone who didn't do so particularly well in school could achieve so much with hard work and dedication."
"Hamed is a Muslim, therefore they could relate to him from an Islamic perspective, particularly how his faith in Allah gave them hope."
"Felt touched by his story, his journey and struggle for survival for both himself and family."
