Streams of Sanctuary – encouraging the town’s communities to come together to embed the concepts of welcome, safety and inclusion within their professions, sectors, and organisations through gaining a sanctuary award.
Streams we are working with and plan to work with in the future in Swindon are:
- Schools (both primary and secondary)
- Swindon Libraries
- Swindon Council
- Arts sector
- Businesses and third sector orgaisations
- Health
Sanctuary Awards – Sanctuary awards are a part of the national City of Sanctuary movement and since 2021 is the main focus of our work here in Swindon. The. Awards recognise and celebrate mainstream organisations’ commitment to our and the national CoS values and vision of welcome and inclusivity and enabling them to become active participants in the City of Sanctuary network. It is an opportunity to celebrate and share good practice as well reflect on how practice can be improved.
Any community group, private organisation, public sector service or other bodies which contribute towards the vision of welcome can apply for the award by signing up to our charter values and principles and demonstrating their commitment using the following process:
- Learn: find out what it means to be seeking sanctuary; and be actively involved in awareness raising.
- Embed: take positive action to make welcome and inclusion part of the values of your organisation or community, to support people who are seeking asylum and people who are refugees, and to include them in your activities.
- Share: your vision and achievements: let others know about the positive contribution people seeking sanctuary make to our society and the benefits of a welcoming culture to everyone.
More information can be found on the national City of Sanctuary website here
To learn more about the ‘Streams’ of work we are currently focussing on in Swindon just click the links below (we will update this list as our work progresses):