Our beginning…at the end of 2015 the group was formed by activists in the Bentham area of North Yorkshire to support refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, to support where we can refugees overseas and those still to come to the UK.
We are now an Area of Sanctuary.
To date we have the following strands to our work:
Collections…We have had various collections of clothes, food, sleeping bags etc, which have gone to local charities working with refugees in the UK, and overseas to camps.
Fundraising…We have held a fundraising concert (money sent to refugee charities), and a ‘Standing Together’ awareness raising day with speakers from the Red Cross and Regional Asylum Activism.
Hosting weekends…Since October 2016 we have held several Refugee Hosting Weekends when refugees and asylum seekers from the Red Cross Drop In Centre in Bradford have come for the weekend, staying with local families.
Campaigning…We have attended surgeries with our MP, Julian Smith, to raise refugee issues with him, particularly bringing unaccompanied children to the UK from Calais.
Awareness raising…We challenge negative attitudes, for example, through press work. We also demonstrate that refugees are welcome here through the variety of activities that we carry out and through the involvement of the wider community in our work.
Further information… is also available on our Facebook page: