Urgent Appeal: Keep Your City of Sanctuary Going

Thanks to supporters like you, over the last decade, we have achieved a lot. 

• Together, we have built a network of sanctuary in our schools and colleges, informing and inspiring our young people so that hopefully, the injustices we see now for people forced to flee their homes are not carried forward to the next generation

• Together, we have advocated for a compassionate, fair and effective asylum system - over 1,000 of you signed our Open Statement against the Nationality and Borders Bill - standing against the inhumane policies that make life in the UK so difficult for those seeking sanctuary.

• Together, we  have distributed thousands of bus tickets, ensuring people seeking safety here can access vital legal and health appointments, and other support  across the city. 

We could not have done it without you.

Now we need your help.

We know how much richer our country is for the people who have sought sanctuary here. Our communities have been enhanced by the people who have settled in our city; Clifton Suspension Bridge, our city’s most famous landmark, was built by the son of a refugee.

Yet the Nationality and Borders Act punishes rather than protects, penalising people who make their own way here because they do not have the option of a safe and legal route. 

This, and other hostile policies, are exacerbating a culture of fear. People are being forced to live in a state of fear of being separated from their family, of being removed to a country like Rwanda where they no know one. Forced to live in fear of being disbelieved and returned to the country from which they fled.

This is why our work has never been more needed. 

However, like many organisations, the pandemic and today’s difficult funding climate has hit us hard. To secure our future, realise our ambitious plans and to continue calling for a fair and humane asylum system, we urgently need your help.

We are launching an appeal to raise £100,000 over the next 12 months so that we can:
 

• Redouble our efforts to advocate for a system that values protection over punishment.
   
• Take forward our success with schools to embed welcome within organisations of all types across our city. Working with faith communities, the arts, sports groups and businesses to bring about
  enduring culture change in our city.
   
• Build a movement of safety, hope and sanctuary in our community, showing people that they are truly welcome in our city.

We’re going out to businesses, philanthropists and grant funders, and we’ve secured £5,000 already. But raising large sums takes time, and so we are asking you, the people of Bristol, for £10,000 to keep us going.

Whatever you can give will make a difference. Stand in solidarity and be part of our movement of welcome that is needed now more than ever. Please donate now.

Thank you 

Sarah Cooper

Manager, Bristol City of Sanctuary