Manchester City of Sanctuary: Building a Network of Welcome
People who seek sanctuary, fleeing war & persecution, are looking for safety, welcome and friendship.
Manchester can be that place – a city of sanctuary.
Our vision is for every person seeking sanctuary to feel part of a supportive community that understands and accepts them.
Our mission is to make Manchester a welcoming place for refugees and asylum seekers.
Our values are:
- Connection: valuing the power of personal connection as a way of understanding and promoting empathy
- Acceptance: seeing people are they are, without question and without judgement
- Collaboration: working together to create deeper and lasting impact across the sector and with public bodies
- Empowerment: working towards sanctuary seekers becoming protagonists of their own futures
- Dignity: recognising the humanity of all people
Our approach:
We bring together refugees, asylum seekers and local Mancunians for shared understanding, fun, friendship and wellbeing:
- Connecting Sanctuary Seekers with Manchester locals through fun and friendship-building events such as social events and coffee mornings.
- Helping Sanctuary Seekers to stay active with accessible physical activities such as yoga classes and cycle training.
- Providing social opportunities and training to learn about each other and learn new skills.
- Enabling Sanctuary Seekers to volunteer with us and with other organisations.
- Creating safe spaces for Sanctuary Seekers to share and reflect on their experiences.
- Supporting Sanctuary Seekers to get to know Manchester.
- Supporting local organisations to be better able to understand and support Sanctuary Seekers.
Manchester City of Sanctuary has charity status: Ref number 1168839. If you would like to donate to us you can donate here or sign up to our newsletter here.
Follow us on Twitter: @ManchesterCoS and Instagram: @mcrcityofsanctuary or like our Facebook page.
Latest News
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Statement from Greater Manchester organisations and groups on the Nationality and Borders Bill
In Greater Manchester we look after our neighbours, we care about each other, and we
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Fitness with Fiona
During the pandemic, I have felt extremely grateful and proud to have delivered a range of virtual fitness sessions for Manchester City of Sanctuary.
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How yoga helped us learn about our bodies
During the summer of 2020, I was approached by Liz at Manchester City of Sanctuary and asked if I would be interested in teaching a weekly online yoga class with a group of women seeking sanctuary. I teach from a…
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Welcome Yassin
We're really pleased to be working with Refugees and Mentors by hosting Yassin, a HR specialist from Sudan. He's supporting us in the back office, getting some of our processes and systems up to date.
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Volunteer Voices: Izzy
"I’m new to Manchester City of Sanctuary. I spoke with Liz at the end of last year and was really inspired by the work that MCoS was doing. In January, I happily took on the opportunity to host the weekly…
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The Big Conversation 2021
We have to tell you about The Big Conversation we hosted last month - it was incredible! We spent two hours together, playing games and activities as a whole group of almost 60, before breaking into groups to take part in…
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Voicing Silence
We were really excited to be able to offer 2 workshops around the idea of extinction with participants sharing their feelings and responses through the medium of art.
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Activity Update
We've been getting the hang of using zoom and it's really opened up the range of activities we can now provide to the Sanctuary Seekers we work with.
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Volunteer Voices
I've been volunteering with City of Sanctuary for over two years. I was inspired to join because of the ethos of community and making our city a place of welcome to those who have been displaced. This was done through…
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Corona Poem
Inspired by one of our events in partnership with Manchester Libraries, Farheen wrote this poem about Corona Virus and it's impact.
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‘My Experience of Lockdown and how Manchester City of Sanctuary has supported me’
We asked some of the Sanctuary Seekers if they wanted to write something for the website and the newsletter. Pauline really wanted to, and wrote the following about her experience of locakdown, and how Manchester City of Sanctuary has been…
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Standing in Solidarity
Manchester City of Sanctuary works with asylum seekers and refugees - members of society whose backgrounds involve discrimination, fear and persecution. We are led by their needs and give platforms for their voices, stories and experiences. We welcome all with…
Read all our news.
Our Next Event
To see what events are coming up you can visit our events page here.
Our Handbook
Have you seen our handbook for Sanctuary Seekers in Manchester, written for Sanctuary Seekers BY sanctuary seekers. Download it here.
Donate
Could you help us with a one off or monthly donation? A small amount goes a long way. Just £8 enable a Sanctuary Seeker to attend two social sessions. Donate here.