Annual Review 2022/2023
Registered Charity 1160553
Contents
Contents
Page 3 Welcome Page 5 Chair's Report Page 6 Our wider work: a year of change
Page 8 Schools & Colleges of Sanctuary: a year of growth Page 10 Finances Page 12 With thanks to...
Welcome
Bradford City of Sanctuary works to build a culture of welcome for people seeking sanctuary.
We are part of a growing national movement of over 100 City of Sanctuary groups. We work through partnerships with statutory, voluntary, business and community groups to create, facilitate and support networks across the city.
Our work includes:
Supporting organisations from across Bradford interested in working towards a sanctuary award, ranging from schools and colleges, theatre companies, community gardens and even train stations.
Participating in forums around the city and working alongside our local authority of sanctuary to make sure the refugee voice is represented.
Networking across the city, connecting organisations and promoting best practice.
Ensuring sanctuary seekers have accessible information, for example helping create welcomebradford.org.
Advocating for sanctuary seekers, informed by our advisory group of people with lived experience.
Our vision is a city where people seeking sanctuary are not only welcomed and included but recognised for the valuable contribution they make to our community
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Chair's Report
As I write, I cannot remember in the nearly 15 years of our existence such a time of concerted attack by our government and sections of the media on the rights of those fleeing persecution abroad - rights that this country signed up to under the 1951 Geneva Convention. The recent Nationality and Borders Act and Illegal Migration Bill will make it impossible for tens of thousands of people to claim asylum in the UK – as no legal routes exist to arrive here and those who do will be immediately detained and criminalised. This at a time when the number of refugees worldwide is at an all- time high and the UK remains way down the list of EU countries in terms of the numbers seeking asylum per head of population.
Whilst we are not a campaigning organisation, we have supported and promoted a number of national campaigns seeking to oppose the progress of the so-called ‘hostile environment’. We were particularly pleased that Bradford Council recently passed a motion opposing many of the government’s recent anti-immigration policies and proposals.
The need has never been greater then for our work - and that of the amazing national City of Sanctuary movement. When we joined, this had about a dozen groups – today it is over 100! We work passionately (an over-used word, but true) to ensure that Bradford becomes ever more a genuine ‘City of Sanctuary’. It has been immensely encouraging to see Bradford Council itself, along with Bradford University, two local FE colleges, many schools, Displace Yourself Theatre Company and the wonderful Horton Community Farm and Bradford Interchange apply for, renew or actively
We work passionately to ensure that Bradford becomes ever more a genuine ‘City of Sanctuary’
work towards receiving one of our Sanctuary Awards. These require organisations to evidence how they respond to the particular needs of sanctuary seekers, and to work with us to develop these.
In such a depressing situation, it has been a joy to welcome two really excellent new members of staff this year: Kate Hart to lead the fast-developing Schools and Colleges of Sanctuary project, and more recently Joanna Price, who is transforming our administration and communications work. We are so proud of what they are achieving! Later in this report you will read of our newly established Advisory Group, consisting of local people with lived experience of seeking asylum or refugee resettlement – a critically important development for our work.
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Chair's Report
We take every opportunity we can to raise awareness around issues impacting sanctuary seekers and of the work we are doing. Whilst sections of the national media seem committed to demonising and misrepresenting sanctuary seekers, we are very encouraged at some positive and accurate reporting in the local media. It has been great to work with journalists at the Telegraph and Argus and BCB radio throughout the year to contribute towards this. During the year we have given a number of talks, participated in and held displays at a number of public events, including the university’s annual Rosa Parks Symposium, the ever-wonderful annual Peace Fair and the Great Get Together in Peel Park - where our amazing volunteers (thank you Geoff!), using a ‘juice bike’, helped children produce over 200 smoothies! After two years of COVID frustration it was a joy in September to welcome the national City of Sanctuary conference to Bradford and have the opportunity to showcase the fantastic work taking place in this city.
One of our key aims is to ensure that sanctuary seekers and those seeking to support them can access accurate information about the services available in the city. For too long these have remained a well-kept secret, with people living here for years without being able to access essential support. We are delighted therefore that the Welcome to Bradford website, the brainchild of our dedicated trustee Mandy Hall and created with the brilliant Solidaritech and colleagues at Refugee Action, receives
nearly 100 visits a day - and that the council have committed funding to ensure that it is kept regularly updated. We are currently working with colleagues at the university on a digital ‘Free Things to Do in Bradford’ resource.
With no formal coordination of the local asylum and refugee support sector, we ensure that we are active members of the Destitution Concern Bradford network, and other citywide networking fora, as well as regional and national ones.
Altogether this has been an exciting and successful year for us, in the face of so much frustration and despair on the national and international stages. We remain immensely proud of Bradford, a city that genuinely deserves its status as a ‘City of Sanctuary’, and look forward to working towards making this even more of a reality in the coming 12 months.
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Our wider work
a year of change
In November we welcomed Joanna Price into a new role of Administration and Communications Officer (part time). She shares her reflections:
I have enjoyed stepping into this new role and becoming the first port of call for enquiries. I communicate our work through regular newsletters as well as via emails, our website, facebook and twitter. With asylum issues being in the news daily, I have worked to provide accurate information and equip our supporters to respond. With over 400 individuals receiving our newsletters and more than 1100 facebook and twitter followers I keep our social media up to date as well as ensuring our website stays current. I have also been busy promoting the excellent website WelcomeBradford.org and facilitating the work of our fantastic team of trustees, volunteers and Advisory Group.
Momentum is currently building for Refugee Week 2023 and we hope to see many of you there. We are grateful for your support and always keen to hear from people who want to join the team; do get in touch as we have so many different ways you can get involved.
4 members joined our Advisory Group
Bradford hosted City of Sanctuary conference
1 visit from little Amal
2 new trustees appointed
3 trusts have given to fund our work
16 volunteers gave time to our work
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Chair's Report Our wider work a year of change
Introducing our new Advisory Group
Rosie MacPherson, trustee and Artistic Director at Stand and Be Counted, speaks about the formation of our new Advisory Group:
"Our Advisory Group is made up of people with lived experience of the asylum journey. The group has been set up so that we are better able to meet the needs, effectively and appropriately, of sanctuary seekers in Bradford. We feel very strongly as a charity that our work should be guided by those with lived experience of the refugee journey, and that sanctuary seekers should play an active role in decision-making. This group is an inclusive space for people’s voices and suggestions to be heard and fed back into our planning and delivery.
In the coming year this group will be a key driver in our development. We are really excited to see how it develops and to learn from the experience of those with lived experience of seeking sanctuary."
Trustees, Staff and our Advisory group at our Annual Planning day in February.
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Schools & Colleges of Sanctuary a year of growth
Kate, Project Co-ordinator (part time) for our work in Schools and Colleges reflects on the year:
It has been a year of growth for the Schools and Colleges of Sanctuary project in Bradford. Bradford College and Keighley College achieved the sanctuary award in June and November 2022; four primary schools are actively working towards the award; and two high schools are in the process of reaccrediting. Several schools have expressed interest and will begin their journey in the next academic year.
We have identified training and resource needs for schools and colleges working towards the award; developing our own Bradford-specific resources. This includes the development and delivery of staff training on migration and refugees; a Bradford teaching resource pack; assemblies; pupil voice and critical thinking workshops; a termly local newsletter; and reaccreditation guidance and support.
We have developed strong partnerships . Work with the Education Partnerships team at Bradford Council has increased our connections in schools and work with the Access team has enabled us to support individual pupils and families seeking sanctuary on frequent occasions. Through partnership with Refugee Action, we have been running workshops with new arrivals and supporting families and individuals with access to school, college and higher education.
We have held several successful events over the year. During Refugee Week in June 2022, we facilitated schools’ involvement in Little Amal’s visit to Bradford and organised workshops and a schools’ art exhibition on the theme of healing. In July, we worked with Bradford Literature Festival and ran a series of workshops on the theme of ‘welcome’ for Primary and Secondary schools.
We also participated in a campaign with Together with Refugees to ‘fill the skies with hope’ by sending letters to the Prime Minster about the cruel Rwanda scheme.
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Schools & Colleges of Sanctuary a year of growth
We have stayed connected to regional and national groups: attending the Hub for European Refugee Education conference in November; involvement in the national Schools of Sanctuary Steering Group and the Regional Refugee Integration Forum.
We look forward to another year of supporting schools and colleges to continue building communities of welcome and inclusion.
4 primary schools working towards an award
2 high schools applying for reaccreditation
2 new colleges of sanctuary were awarded
new workshops delivered for recently arrived sanctuary seekers
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Finances
Receipts and Payments 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023
| TOTAL | General Fund | Ops Lead | A&C Officer | Schools Worker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income | |||||
| Donations and legacies | 3,241 | 3,241 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gift Aid Tax repayment | 384 | 384 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grants | 20,250 | 0 | 0 | 2,240 | 18,010 |
| Other Income (Note 1) | 850 | 850 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Income |
24,725 | 4,475 | 0 | 2,240 | 18,010 |
| Expenditures | |||||
| Office Rental | (684) | 0 | (342) | (342) | |
| Payroll admin fees | (164) | 0 | (53) | (112) | |
| Room hire | (216) | (216) | 0 | 0 | |
| Travel expenses | (421) | 0 | (101) | (320) | |
| Training costs | (135) | (135) | 0 | 0 | |
| HR Support | (90) | (90) | 0 | 0 | |
| Job Advertisement | (72) | 0 | (72) | 0 | |
| Advisory Group expenses | (67) | (67) | |||
| IT Support | (18) | (18) | |||
| Insurance | (342) | (171) | (171) | ||
| Laptop and Phone | (195) | (195) | |||
| Miscellaneous costs | (278) | (278) | 0 | 0 | |
| Salaries & Wages | |||||
| A&C Officer | (3,191) | (3,191) | |||
| SoS | (17,578) | (17,578) | |||
| Total Salaries & Wages | (20,768) | 0 | (3,191) | (17,578) | |
| Total Expenditure | (23,451) | (804) | 0 | (4,124) | (18,522) |
| Net Income/(Expenditure) | 1,274 | 3,671 | 0 | (1,884) | (512) |
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Finances
Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2023
| TOTAL | General Fund | Ops Lead (Note 2) |
A&C Officer | Schools Worker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASSETS | |||||
| Bank balance | 26,732 | ||||
| Payment made in advance | 6,420 | ||||
| Petty Cash balance | 52 | ||||
| TOTAL ASSETS | 33,205 | ||||
| FUNDS | |||||
| Balances from last year | 31,930 | 14,543 | 0 | 9,097 | 8,291 |
| Surplus/deficit this year | 1,274 | 3,671 | 0 | (1,884) | (512) |
| 33,205 | 18,214 | 0 | 7,213 | 7,779 | |
| Transfers between funds | 0 | (10,000) | 10,000 | 0 | 0 |
| FUND BALANCES TO CARRY FORWARD |
33,205 | 8,214 | 10,000 | 7,213 | 7,779 |
NOTES
Note 1: We were holding £1500 on behalf of the UNIfy event. Some of it was spent but we have been donated the balance of £850.
Note 2: We are currently raising the funds to create an Operations Lead post in the coming year.
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With thanks to...
As an organisation a lot of what we do is hidden: helping local frontline services find the right support for a sanctuary seeker, working alongisde the council to ensure that their services are appropriate and accessible to sanctuary seekers, or identifying gaps in support and how they may be filled. It is valuable but often unseen work. We just couldn't carry on without the small and growing body of donors who give to help us build a culture of welcome. Please accept our heartfelt thanks for your faithful support.
We would also like to thank our trust funders : Evan Cornish Society of the Holy Child Jesus Sovereign Health Care
This year we were delighted to form an Advisory Group of people with lived experience of seeking sanctuary. They inform, advise and guide us as we seek to respond to the ever changing challenges facing refugees and asylum seekers. We express heartfelt thanks to our founding group members: Kamil, Tina, Kafa and Hui.
Supporting our two part-time members of staff we have a team of capable, committed and very hardworking volunteers and our treasurer, Phil Lawler.
Finally we are grateful to our trustees who give their time to build a culture of welcome, hospitality and inclusion:
Chair: Will Sutcliffe (since 2008) Roger Cowell (since 2018) Kay Holden (since 2018) Rosie MacPherson (since 2020) Mandy Oates (since 2018) Alun Pelleschi (since 2020) Esther Douglas (since 09.05.23) Wahid Rashid (since 09.05.23)
Registered Address: Bradford City of Sanctuary, c/o Touchstone, 4 Easby Road, Bradford, BD7 1QX
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