HAVE you heard of the charity City of Sanctuary? Me neither, and I was somewhat surprised that I hadn’t, given how firmly it is embedded with local authorities, schools, universities and firms across the UK.
It has achieved remarkable results on a relatively insubstantial income of under £500k (accounts 2023).
Its professional website will enthral lovers of woke gobbledegook. Try this for size:
‘City by city, community by community, City of Sanctuary UK is building welcome for people seeking sanctuary. From community groups and refugee sector networks to schools and universities, local councils to libraries and theatres, we work with individuals, groups and organisations in every area and sector. The community groups, networks and streams/awards programmes we support enable opportunities for everyone to play their part in building a more welcoming, inclusive and compassionate society.’
The charity takes issue with the Illegal Migration Act, describing it as ‘one of the largest roll backs of refugee rights that this country has ever seen. It has never been so important to stand up for sanctuary, and to encourage others to do the same’.
Founded some 20 years ago, the charity has made remarkable strides. Just look at what it has achieved within local authorities.
‘There was unprecedented growth and interest in our Local Authority Network in 2023. A total of 56 local councils are now formally within the Local Authority network, and overall we are engaged with 158, including 28 out of 32 London Boroughs. 68 councils have now passed motions committing themselves to work with us to build inclusion and welcome within their policy and practice – 23 of these were passed in 2023. There are now 12 fully awarded Local Authorities: Lewisham, Bradford, Lambeth, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Salford, Sevenoaks, Greenwich, Sandwell, Islington and Waltham Forest. We were delighted to receive funding from the Lloyds Bank Foundation to support our work with local authorities from 2024-2027.’
For those wishing to influence impressionable minds, schools have long been fertile ground. The media have regularly reported parents enraged on learning that their progeny were being exposed to all sorts of indoctrination, be it drag queen story hour, the climate emergency, trans ideology etc etc. Refugee awareness is another step in this procession and City of Sanctuary boast:
‘We have experienced another huge growth in our network of schools. There are now 417 awarded schools, with another 393 working towards recognition. 92 awards and 3 re-accreditations were given in 2023. This year our schools work was recognised globally as one of 29 “Promising Practices” in Refugee Education. Schools of Sanctuary is being actively delivered in 50+ areas across the UK by our team of local leads. Each lead is trained, advised and supported by us.
‘Where we don’t have a lead, we support the school directly – we’re currently supporting 61. In 2023, we organised 4 events, officially partnered with Anglia-Ruskin University, established a national working group for organisations working in refugee education and spoke at a migrant girls’ education event in the House of Commons.
‘Driven by teachers, school staff, parents, governors and community groups, this network supports the thousands of children and young people seeking sanctuary in the UK, raises awareness of the experiences of people seeking safety, and plays a key role in building a culture of kindness and compassion. Schools are the heart of our communities and are central to building a better, fairer and kinder society – for everyone.’
Aristotle’s maxim ‘Give me the child till he is seven and I will show you the man’ seems particularly apt.
The charity is not confined to local authorities, schools and universities; it involves itself in the arts and theatre, libraries and, somewhat oddly, maternity and health streams.
‘Our Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing project has seen an ongoing collaboration with The Mental Health Foundation, leading to several Sanctuary Ambassadors trained as peer-to-peer wellbeing support leaders. We are very proud that one health organisation has obtained the award and 9 others, including NHS trusts, are working towards it. There are 8 awarded maternity organisations, including The Birth Partner Project in Cardiff, the first organisation in Wales to receive the award. We currently have 8 more organisations working towards the Award.
‘By working within the City of Sanctuary network, groups have access to a vast array of resources, expert support and collaboration opportunities with other groups. Groups go beyond what they themselves can do to help people seeking sanctuary. They act as a rallying cry to other organisations and individuals in an area to offer sanctuary and welcome.’
The reference to a vast array of resources is no idle boast, with a multitude of resource packs for schools and a host of awards schemes. It all reads like one long munificent and benevolent enterprise that only the hardest of hearts could take issue with.
The awards themselves have been given to a huge number of organisations with 14 pages listing 50 awarded institutions per page – notably schools and places of learning. The audit tool and application forms which are available here give you an idea of the scale and resources at their disposal.
While there might well be arguments for and against what this group promotes, it would seem only logical to ask, if such a group has managed to achieve such apparent influence across so many areas largely unnoticed, what else is going on that we don’t know about?
