Cardiff City of Sanctuary
Cardiff City of Sanctuary is part of a national movement which builds a culture of hospitality and welcome, especially for individuals seeking sanctuary from war and persecution. It is a grass-roots movement that facilitates the active participation of individuals and organisations to create cities that support the vision.
The strategic vision:
Cardiff as a city which is welcoming to all is proud to offer sanctuary to those fleeing violence or persecution and celebrates the contribution of asylum seekers and refugees to city life.
Our Network:
The Cardiff City of Sanctuary Network creates space for local partnerships to grow with people and organisations sharing information, delivering joined-up projects and cementing working relationships between organisations that support people seeking sanctuary.
Our Cardiff City of Sanctuary Strategy and Action Plan, June 2013
In June 2013, Cardiff developed a strategy and action plan which form the basis for its application for City of Sanctuary Status. Please more here.
Cardiff City of Sanctuary works with Cities of Sanctuary across Wales and the Welsh Refugee Coalition to organise events that aim to create a Nation of Sanctuary, a Wales that is safe and welcoming to people fleeing conflict, violence and persecution.
Recently we supported the successful ‘Sanctuary in the Senedd’ event that heard the testimonies of refugees from across Wales, discussed what a Nation of Sanctuary would mean in Wales and questioned Welsh political parties on their commitments to sanctuary.
Our Sanctuary Speakers
We are working with the Welsh Refugee Council to develop a group of asylum seeker and refugee speakers who can talk to organisations about the realities of seeking sanctuary. If you are interested in organising an event where speakers share their stories please get in contact with Althea
We conduct awareness raising sessions with primary and secondary schools in Wales and are making links with them to help them consider making their school a school of sanctuary. Here are just some of the schools we collaborate with:
- We gave a talk to over 300 students at Bishop of Llandaff High School, to share more about refugees and the reasons why people claim asylum. The teachers felt that the session was very informative and equipped them to better communicate to pupils about asylum seekers and refugees
- We gave a presentation to Radyr Comprehensive School along with a refugee speaker from Syria. The students were given a rare opportunity to meet a refugee and ask questions about his life in Syria and why he choose to leave his home county.
Cardiff Council Support
Cardiff Council has reiterated their support ‘in principle’ and have begun to set in place certain actions such as setting a Migration Multi Agency Group. The Regional Community Cohesion Officer also sits on the Networking Group