Luton City of Sanctuary is part of the national City of Sanctuary movement, focused on building a culture of welcome for all people seeking sanctuary in the UK.
Led by a small voluntary team, our network is committed to taking practical steps to welcome and work with people to rebuild their lives. We do this through facilitating strong working partnerships between a range of stakeholders, from local businesses and community groups to statutory and voluntary organisations. We are proud to be able to amplify the voices of people seeking sanctuary in Luton.
Vision
For Luton to be a place of safety and welcome for all people seeking sanctuary.
Mission
To create a network that works in solidarity with people seeking sanctuary to promote their safety and well-being
Safety and well-being are fundamental rights for everyone. We want to provide people seeking sanctuary with greater access to networks of support so they can exercise their agency and find safety.
We’ll do this through:
- Facilitating stronger access to local sector organisations and core services through our network.
- Partnership working to encourage solutions based collaboration on common cause issues.
To create inclusive environments that promote understanding and positive connection between refugee and local communities, fostering social cohesion and shared cultural experiences.
Systemic change cannot be achieved without building community and growing our collective understanding of shared visions. Importantly, we must collaborate to achieve common goals.
We’ll do this through:
- Participating in national initiatives such as Refugee Week
- Working with the Local Authority to understand how to best engage local communities and encourage investment in social cohesion across Luton Town.
- Co-producing events and activities with people seeking sanctuary.
To strengthen, develop and diversify the movement in Luton.
Amplifying the voices of people seeking sanctuary and developing strong working partnerships across the sector are vital to our success.
We’ll do this by:
- Engaging and encouraging a broad range of stakeholders to join Luton City of Sanctuary, including people with lived experience of seeking sanctuary, community groups, schools, health care organisations, the arts and faith communities.
- Committing to use our position to defend the rights of people seeking sanctuary.