We have recently formed a working group of City of Sanctuary volunteers to develop some community projects to build bridges between local people and asylum-seekers in Sheffield neighbourhoods.

As a first stage we are working with groups and individuals in the Manor area. Our first local meeting will be on Thursday 22nd May at 7pm, at St. Aidan's Community Centre on Manor Lane. 

If you would like to be involved in this work, and especially if you live or work in the Manor area, please let us know.

A public meeting in Sheffield last night heard how local asylum seekers were suffering because of rules barring some of them from free hospital treatment. One man from Afghanistan who damaged his spine while mending a roof was eventually let off paying his bill but said he was told he couldn’t have a wheelchair. Another said he was refused medical care for his diabetes and when his sight deteriorated the local Eritrean community raised £3,000 for his treatment.

City of Sanctuary is a movement to build a culture of hospitality for asylum-seekers and refugees in Sheffield. We are working to make Sheffield a city that takes pride in the welcome it offers to people in need of safety, and that enables asylum-seekers and refugees to contribute fully to the life of our communities.

There's an interview with Craig and Babak from City of Sanctuary on Sheffield's community radio station Sheffield Live! website. To listen just follow the link here (our interview is about a third of the way into the programme.

On 7th February we held a meeting at Sheffield University to choose our priorities for Sheffield as a City of Sanctuary over the next year. Fifty supporters and representatives of supporting organisations held lively discussions and shared their ideas.

There was a broad commitment to our Manifesto of long term goals for Sheffield, (see 'Our Manifesto' link on the left).

The core priority that was identified by the meeting was on building community between local people and new arrivals, particularly in key local neighbourhoods where asylum-seekers and refugees are concentrated.

City of Sanctuary is teaming up with the Refugee Council, the UK’s largest refugee organisation, to support local groups throughout the UK in developing their own Cities of Sanctuary. We have also received funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to support this work. There is already a City of Sanctuary working group in Leicester, and people working to set one up in Leeds, and 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.

On 4th June we will be holding a national conference in Sheffield, inviting people from around the country to find out how they can develop their own city of Sanctuary initiatives. If you think you could be involved in setting up or joining a local working group please contact us to find out how we could support you.

How could your community welcome Asylum-seekers and refugees?

Pass a resolution of support for City of Sanctuary.

Display one of our "We welcome asylum-seekers and refugees" signs outside your building or office.

Invite a refugee or asylum-seeker to speak to your community about their experiences.

Publicise City of Sanctuary, Refugee Week and other refugee events within your community.

Publicise opportunities for voluntary work with asylum-seekers and refugees.

Invite refugee groups to your community social events.

Offer befriending or advocacy to asylum-seekers in your area.

Offer meeting or worship space to a refugee community group.

Raise funds for ASSIST or other refugee charities.

Provide short or longer-term accommodation to homeless asylum-seekers by offering a spare room, or by contributing to the rent for a house.

Offer volunteer placements for suitably skilled asylum-seekers or refugees with your organisation.

Consider appointing refugees to positions of responsibility in your community.

These are just a few suggestions of ways that community groups can involve refugees and asylum-seekers in your activities. For more information, contacts with relevant organisations and support with putting these or other ideas into practice please contact us.

Volunteering opportunities

There are many projects which support asylum-seekers and refugees in the Sheffield area, and all would welcome new volunteers...

ASSIST. Supports destitute asylum-seekers with small grants and accommodation. Volunteers needed for fundraising, events, campaigns, publicity etc. Also runs a hosting scheme to provide short-term accommodation to homeless asylum-seekers.
www.assistsheffield.org.uk
admin@assistsheffield.org.uk
Tel: 0114 275 4960

Conversation Club. Informal English conversation and befriending, day trips and social activities for asylum-seekers and volunteers.
Tel: 07985 916683

Northern Refugee Centre. Opportunities for befriending, mentoring, advice work and interpreting.
www.nrcentre.org.uk/volunteer/
Tel: 0114 241 2780

Refugee Education Employment Programme (REEP). Teaching English to asylum-seekers and refugees.
www.refed.plus.com/volunteers.htm

Sheffield Association for the Voluntary Teaching of English (SAVTE). Teaching English as an additional language to asylum-seekers and others.
www.savte.org.uk/

Link to us

You could help us attract more visitors by providing a link to us on your website. We have a range of City of Sanctuary web banners and buttons available. We have also just started to provide RSS newsfeeds on our website, which potentially allow you to show the latest City of Sanctuary headlines on your site.

Volunteer Work Placements Needed for Skilled Refugees

Refugee New Arrivals Project is looking for local employers who are willing to offer volunteer work placements to professionally qualified refugees in their skill sector. Placements are usually for 1 day a week for 12 weeks but other models are possible. Placements are needed in a wide variety of sectors and occupations (e.g. civil, mechanical and environmental engineering, IT, education, accountancy, business administration, human resources and many others) so we welcome offers from companies and organisations working in all fields. For further information, or to register you interest in the scheme, please contact: admin@new-arrivals.org.uk or Tel: 0114 241 2785

Volunteer Advocates Needed

ASSIST is looking for volunteer befriender/advocates who can accompany asylum-seekers to appointments and offer moral support in meetings with solicitors and officials. If you could offer some time for this very important role please contact ASSIST at
admin@assistsheffield.org.uk or
Tel: 0114 275 4960

 

On Tuesday 18th September we held a media launch at Sheffield Town Hall with the Mayor of Sheffield and community leaders from some of our supporting organisations, including Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Hindu communities, Sheffield Hallam Student Union, Sheffield Futures, and The Co-operative group. The event was covered by BBC Radio Sheffield, Hallam FM, The Star and The Telegraph, and was picked up nationally by BBC Radio Five Live. It would be really helpful if our supporters could look out for mentions of City of Sanctuary in the media over the next few weeks, and respond to any letters or comments that are critical of the movement. It's important for us to tell our stories so that the debate isn't left to those who are hostile to refugees.

A Sheffield refugee, Martin Hadi Butimar, is campaigning with local friends to try to save the life of his brother, Hiwa Butimar - sentenced to death in Iran for his advocacy of human rights for Kurdish people. You can find out more information and contact the Iranian government directly through the campaign website here.

This letter by Graham Wroe of Sheffield Green Party was published in The Star recently:
"Dear editor,
"Many people in South Yorkshire recently faced the traumatic experience of having to leave their homes, either because of actual flooding or the threat of Ulley dam breaking. Our thoughts are very much with the people who still can't return to their homes and have lost most of their possessions.

Following the recent announcement of Sheffield becoming the first City of Sanctuary, we now need to work out a shared set of practical goals for Sheffield’s engagement with asylum-seeker and refugees. We will be asking for the views of all our supporters and aim to hold a consultation event in 2008, leading to a plan that we can all share responsibility for working towards.

Our latest City of Sanctuary Ceilidh night for Refugee week was an amazing experience of sharing cultures, music and dance. Asylum-seekers and refugees from around the world learned some traditional British dancing, and they entertained us with stunning displays of traditional costumes and African drumming.

A team of Sheffield-based asylum-seekers and refugees have started their own City of Sanctuary 'blogs' - writing about their views and experiences of life in Sheffield. Click on the 'Asylum Blogs' link in the menu above to read their work, and please leave your comments or questions for them by clicking on the 'Comments' link underneath any blog post. We are running a weekly drop-in bloggers' workshop, led by Mark Gibbens, on Wednesdays from 11am to 5pm, at Access Space, 1 Sidney St, S1 4RG. Tel:0114 249 5522 If you are a refugee or asylum-seeker, or someone who befriends or supports them, and you would like to write your own blog on this website please contact us.

These are some answers to common questions about Sheffield City of Sanctuary. Please feel free to get in touch with us if you have further questions or concerns.

The following Sheffield groups and organisations support the aims of Sheffield City of Sanctuary, and are actively working to build a culture of hospitality and welcome for asylum-seekers and refugees in Sheffield.

If you feel your group or organisation might wish to help Sheffield become recognised as a City of Sanctuary, please consider pledging your support.

Here we have provided a list of links to related organisations and sources of further information. If you think we're missing something, please let us know and we'll consider adding it.

We are seeking statements of support from the widest possible range of community groups and organisations across Sheffield for our goal of becoming the UK's first 'City of Sanctuary'. Could your group or organisation pass a resolution such as this?

Keith and Ethel Burdett gave an interview for BBC Radio Sheffield’s Breakfast Show on 14th December, to talk about the house they have bought for destitute female asylum-seekers in Gleadless Valley. Keith told how the women call them ‘Mum and Dad’, and also gave City of Sanctuary a mention. It was a really positive piece of reporting, showing just how generous and hospitable local people can be. Please let us know if you have any stories that would make a good piece for local radio or press.

City of Sanctuary is a movement to build a culture of hospitality for refugees and asylum-seekers. In 2007, with the support of the City Council, Sheffield became the UK’s first ‘City of Sanctuary’ for asylum-seekers and refugees - a city that takes pride in the welcome it offers to people in need of safety.

City of Sanctuary was formed in October 2005 from a meeting between many of the voluntary and faith groups working with asylum-seekers and refugees in the city of Sheffield. They identified the need for a common vision for the city as a whole, and formed the nucleus of a network of supporters that now includes 81 local organisations, including schools, community projects, Community Forums and student groups, as well as most of Sheffield's main faith communities.

Supporting organisations make a public commitment to welcoming and including asylum-seekers and refugees in all of their activities. Practical expressions of this in Sheffield have included offering befriending and advocacy, inviting asylum-seekers to hold positions of responsibility, volunteering placements, language exchanges, organised countryside walks, and providing emergency accommodation.

We want to encourage more local organisations to make a public commitment to welcoming and including asylum-seekers and refugees in their activities. Please contact us if you would like to get involved.

If you would like to receive news of refugee-related events in Sheffield please subscribe to our monthly email newsletter using our contact form. You can also receive instant notification of new articles by registering with this website and joining the 'Sheffield' group.

Sheffield City of Sanctuary

c/o Victoria Hall

Norfolk Street

Sheffield

S1 2JB