City of Sanctuary Spring Newsletter 2025

Greetings and we hope you had a blessed Eid! - Yasmin Millican, BCoS Manager

Dear friends,

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy days to read our quarterly newsletter. We hope that it will provide you with a bit of light, at a time when so much of what we are reading aims to divide and weaken us.

And there is much to be concerned about, with the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill representing a continuation of the previous government’s tactics to criminalise and dehumanise asylum seekers at every turn. The ongoing emphasis on ‘smashing the gangs’ is a distraction from the wider problem and drives arrivals even further underground, because of the lack of safe and legal routes. In the face of the detention expansion plan, record levels of asylum refusals and people being forcibly removed and the decision to block refugees from applying for British citizenship, it is clear that the hostile environment is far from over.
This is what keeps Bristol City of Sanctuary, along with the other fantastic community groups and organisations we work alongside, busy over the last few months. We are committed to working with individuals and institutions from the education sector, the arts, business world, healthcare and the council to continue to find meaningful ways to welcome sanctuary seekers into the bustling cultural and professional life of our city.

**Bristol continues to be a proud City of Sanctuary! -*Francesca Wickens and Mohammed Osman, Bristol City Council***

In January, Bristol celebrated its proud and historic status as a City of Sanctuary, through marking our reaccreditation after being only the third city in the UK to gain this status. We were delighted to welcome the Leader and Lord Mayor of Bristol City Council respectively, as well as sanctuary seekers from a range of backgrounds, Bristol City of Sanctuary representatives, and partners from across the city who support sanctuary seekers through a variety of excellent support services and activities. We in Bristol City Council are committed to our vision that Bristol continues to be a city of safety, a welcoming place where people seeking sanctuary are provided with support, services, and opportunities to rebuild their lives and thrive in our communities.

Bristol’s Schools of Sanctuary - Tessa McNab

Schools, nurseries and all other education settings have a legal duty to safeguard all their pupils, and this includes those with a forced migration background. Most safeguarding policies currently do not mention the specific trauma and barriers faced by this group and instead work with generic safeguarding policies and practice.
The disturbances in Bristol and other cities over the summer brought into sharp focus how easily sanctuary seekers can become targets of far right movements. The experiences of families in Bristol hotels fearing for their lives as crowds threatened arson attacks, as well as periodic xenophobic safeguarding incidents in schools, highlighted the need for increased action to keep refugee pupils safe.
The Schools of Sanctuary team has therefore developed this guidance which looks at the learning from Serious Case Reviews and Rapid Reviews and recommends how schools can take specific action to protect these pupils and their families.

For more news, resources and training opportunities for schools, read the SoS Spring Newsletter here!

Embedding Sanctuary in Bristol’s Arts and Businesses - Yasmin Millican

February saw us bring together arts leaders from more than 10 much-loved institutions at a workshop held by Bristol Beacon to explore how we can work together to consolidate and develop opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers. Along with the Beacon, participants were representing the RWA, St George’s, Art Space, the Folk House, We the Curious, Dovetail Orchestra, SS Great Britain, Sparks, UWE Theatre Project and the Arnolfini; and the energy in the room to support sanctuary seekers to access the arts was palpable. We are working closely with the organisations to support their application for the Sanctuary in Arts Award and both the Beacon and Dovetail Orchestra have now signed the pledge to show their commitment to creating a culture of welcome and inclusion. Very excitingly, we have now formed our very first Arts Steering Group which provides a regular touchpoint for arts organisations wanting to support sanctuary seekers; enabling the sharing of ideas, resources, connections with the refugee support sector and most importantly, with artists from a forced migration background. Please get in touch with yasmin@bristol.cityofsanctuary.org for more information!

Corrie MacLeod and Jaza, Babbasa

The socio-economic difficulties sanctuary seekers face are frequently misunderstood, and an event like the one Bristol City of Sanctuary hosted at the Bristol Beacon is vital to inspire community action supporting sanctuary seekers.
‘Creating a Culture of Sanctuary in Businesses’ felt like much-needed workshop to examine challenges asylum seekers face in the UK and to develop tangible solutions for businesses to address these issues collaboratively. The session included activities to design short- and long-term best practices for businesses to implement a culture of sanctuary. Delivering workshops like this is crucial to help local communities and businesses maintain a space of sanctuary for asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution. Everyone deserves to feel safe and welcome, and organisations and individuals with the capacity to facilitate this have a moral obligation to do so.

CityChallenges and Social Hackathon - Hibo Warsame, Campaigns and Communications Intern

In February and March we had the privilege of delivering student workshops at the University of Bristol and UWE, bringing together passionate students to explore how they can help create a more welcoming and supportive environment for sanctuary seekers.

CityChallenges and the Social Hackathon events are all about action-driven problem-solving, providing students with the opportunity to collaborate with charities and social enterprises while developing key skills in teamwork, critical thinking, and leadership. With our guidance, students worked in teams to tackle two important challenges:

How can we raise awareness and strengthen peer support for sanctuary-seeking students?
How can we harness the power of the student body to fundraise for Bristol City of Sanctuary’s vital work?
The response was incredible. Students brought fresh, innovative ideas to the table, from peer mentoring schemes and society-led initiatives to sports fundraisers, pop-up charity shops, and creative community-building events. The energy in the room was inspiring, and many ideas came from perspectives we hadn’t considered before, demonstrating the true power of student-led change.

As Universities of Sanctuary, they are leaders in supporting refugee and asylum-seeking students in Bristol, and this challenge reinforced the importance of working together to build an even stronger culture of inclusivity and solidarity.

We’re excited to see how we can bring these ideas to life in the coming months. A huge thank you to all the students who took part - their creativity, passion, and drive for change are exactly what makes Bristol a City of Sanctuary.

Strengthening Our Commitment to Anti-Racism - Hibo Warsame

As an organisation committed to continuous learning, unlearning, and taking meaningful action to challenge racism in all its forms, this training was an essential step in deepening our understanding and reinforcing our pledge to be an actively anti-racist organisation.

The training session provided a rich and engaging environment for open dialogue, where participants shared insights, experiences, and perspectives in a way that was both thought-provoking and transformative.

One of the highlights of the experience was the chance to collaborate with representatives from other organisations within BRASP, all equally committed to challenging white privilege, dismantling racism and creating brave and effective allyship. Overall, this training reinforced the importance of not just understanding racism, but also actively working to address and challenge it within our own organisation and communities. It was a reminder that while progress has been made, there is still much to do to put these conversations into policy and practice, and we must continue to listen, reflect, and take action in our shared commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable future.

Resources

The CIPD Trust has just published a guide to hiring refugees which provides practical recommendations and information on recruitment and retention and can be used by organisations of any size. Recruiting and supporting refugees in employment not only has social benefits, there are also benefits for organisations that can benefit from the skills, experience and knowledge of refugees, to address talent shortages and gaps in the labour market.

The Launchpad Collective has developed a toolkit e-module made up of six accessible topics that help businesses be the best they can be by hiring people with refugee backgrounds. Steered by refugees, for refugees, it works side-by-side with both job seekers and employers so that roles are filled and refugees are empowered to contribute positively to society.

Memorial Garden - Nazmiye Kearsley

On 19th March, we hosted a craft session at the Memorial Garden, bringing together attendees to engage with nature through creativity. Participants gathered leaves, twigs and flowers to craft their own designs, later sharing the meaning behind their artwork. To conclude the session, we tied our first ribbons to the wishing tree - a fig tree positioned towards the garden’s end - marking the beginning of a new tradition in the garden.

Upcoming events!

Child Migrant Stories

Bristol City of Sanctuary are organising a fundraiser event on Thursday 3rd April, 6pm, at the Watershed (tonight). It will be an evening of oral histories from people who migrated to the UK as children, with a screening of two short films (made by those individuals) and a performance from Dovetail Orchestra. It's in collaboration with Child Migrant Stories, which is a project that explores the lived experiences of child migrants through images, sound, text and short films. Tickets available here: https://hdfst.uk/e124086.

Citizens UK training

Citizens UK will be facilitating a community organising training on Wednesday 16th April, 17:30 - 20:30 at the Assisi Centre (Lawfords Gate, BS5 0RE) which will be geared towards campaigning around priority issues such as transport, with the chance to learn from one of the co-facilitators who was instrumental in bringing about the successful free bus campaign in Oxford. The content of the workshop will also be transferable and participants are free to explore other issues. We have room for 20 individuals so please email bristol a_t cityofsanctuary d_o_t org to reserve a place.

Bristol Refugee Festival Submission - 14 April 2025
Bristol Refugee Festival 2025 will take place from 7th – 22nd June. The main festival will take place in Queen’s Square on 22nd June. It brings together a diverse range of arts, cultural, educational, and community events under this year’s theme: “CommUnity as a Superpower.”
Key Dates:

Submission Deadline: 14th April 2025
Notification of Results: 17th April 2025

For full details and to submit your event, please visit our website: http://www.bristolrefugeefestival.org
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out at info a_t bristolrefugeefestival d_o_t org

Sparks International Cultural Festival - 14 June 2025
Sparks invites Community Champions, artists, traders, and entrepreneurs from different refugee and migrant communities in Bristol to join the 2025 International Cultural Festival that will be held at Sparks on Saturday 14 June 2025. We invite artists and entrepreneurs to showcase their talents and be part of this exciting event. Free and open to all! https://rb.gy/02zku8