City of Sanctuary is a movement to build a culture of hospitality for refugees and asylum-seekers. Our goal is to create publicly recognised cities of welcome, safety and hospitality for asylum-seekers and refugees throughout the UK.

Many people are now familiar with the idea of a ‘Fairtrade City’, in which a wide range of community groups and organisations make a commitment to using and selling fairtrade goods. In a similar way a ‘City of Sanctuary’ is a place where a broad range of local organisations, community groups and faith communities, as well as local government, are publicly committed to welcoming and including asylum-seekers.

The City of Sanctuary movement began in October 2005 in Sheffield. In September 2007, with the support of the City Council and over 70 local community organisations, Sheffield became the UK’s first official ‘City of Sanctuary’ for asylum-seekers and refugees — a city that takes pride in the welcome it offers to people in need of safety.

There are now City of Sanctuary working groups in Leicester and Leeds, and we are teaming up with the Refugee Council to support local groups in developing their own City of Sanctuary initiatives throughout the UK. We have also received funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to support this work. In 2008 we aim to see a growing national City of Sanctuary movement that can start to influence policy-makers and public attitudes throughout the country.

The aim of creating a national movement of Cities of Sanctuary is both to widen the benefits of greater inclusion of asylum-seekers and refugees in local communities around the country, and also to have a greater impact upon national debate on asylum and immigration issues. Through creating a national network of Cities of Sanctuary, we aim to demonstrate the desire of people of goodwill throughout the country for a more just and humane approach to asylum policy.

This is a time of opportunity for influencing the future direction of asylum policy in the UK, as both the Strangers into Citizens campaign and the Independent Asylum Commission are building support at a national level for a radical review of existing approaches. City of Sanctuary aims to work in partnership with these and other national campaigns, to open up political space for change by giving a public voice to communities which are committed to hospitality and inclusion of asylum-seekers and refugees.

City of Sanctuary is a voluntary organisation with charitable objectives governed by a management committee, chaired by Inderjit Bhogal, the director of the Yorkshire and Humberside Faiths Forum. We are in the process of applying for registered charity status.

The City of Sanctuary Committee

Inderjit Bhogal (Chair) is Director of the Yorkshire and Humberside Faiths Forum and former President of the UK Methodist Conference.

Patricia Midgeley is a Sheffield City Councillor and Chair of the Inclusive and Cosmopolitan City Partnership Board.

Briony Broome is the Director of Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care.

Gina Clayton is a human rights lawyer and a Trustee of the Northern Refugee Centre

Janet Stafford is a Deacon at Victoria Hall Methodist Church and a former manager in the NHS.

Diana Tottle is the Director of SAGE and a Trustee of Skillshare International.

Keith Cornish is a financial consultant working in international development.

Babak Kouravand is a refugee from Iran, and a student at Sheffield Hallam University.