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On Thursday 5th February people from churches & faith groups across the Tees Valley gathered at the Trinity Centre, North Ormesby, to learn and share about how we can work together to provide hospitality and welcome to people seeking sanctuary in our communities of Middlesbrough, Stockton & Hartlepool.
This event was a follow-up to the excellent one-day conference held in October 2014, “How Can You and I welcome asylum seekers in our Church?”
On that day the energy had been palpable and there was a real desire to continue to meet and share and learn from each other so we can offer more effective support to members of our congregations who are seeking sanctuary. There is also a great need to raise awareness and to counter much of the negative media reporting. This is particularly important in the run up to the General Election with the Political parties competing with each other to appear tough.
Our main speaker was Rose McCarthy, national streams co-ordinator for
Cities of Sanctuary – a movement that seeks to build a culture of
hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in the UK. She encouraged us in
our progress towards becoming ‘Tees Valley of Sanctuary’ suggesting we
could lead the way in developing a ‘Faith Stream’ as part of this. The
evening was also attended by the Rt Revd Paul Ferguson, Bishop of Whitby
who joined us to offer his support.
Suggestions for practical activities we could do together included:
- An online forum to share information and events etc.
- Regular newsletter
- Production of a DVD to be used to raise awareness in different settings e.g. schools/churches etc.
- Co-ordinated activities during refugee week.
- Rural parishes offering days out and hospitality.
- Explore the need for an on-going night shelter.
- Regular
meetings to maintain the energy and effectiveness of the group and
encourage different faith groups to qualify for a ‘sanctuary award’.
To find out more about the City of Sanctuary movement and ‘Streams of Sanctuary’ you can go to their website www.cityofsanctuary.org where there is also a link to Tees Valley of Sanctuary.
Barbara Hungin.