Refugee resources for faith communities

’COMMITMENT TO WELCOME’ PROJECT

We are seeking to help all of the faith groups in Brighton and Hove on their journey to becoming certified Places of Sanctuary under the national City of Sanctuary program. There are three simple elements for each congregation to evidence: 

• LEARN – Educate your congregation on welcoming refugees and asylum seekers. 

• EMBED – Ensure the learning becomes part of the DNA of your place of worship. 

• SHARE – Go public with highlighting initiatives, fundraising, and lobbying work. 

KEY DATES FOR 2025 

• Racial Justice Sunday - 9th February 2025.  

• Refugee Week - June 16-22nd 2025 

Get in touch with us for guidance tailored to your community.

Here are some categorised resources to help you on your way!

GUIDANCE FROM CITY OF SANCTUARY 

• Generic Faith Group Guidelines - Faiths-Stream-of-Sanctuary-Award_Generic-Guidelines-and-Criteria_September-2023.FINAL_.pdf 
• Minimum Criteria for Church of Sanctuary Award - https://cdn.cityofsanctuary.org/uploads/sites/151/2023/09/Churches-Minimum-Criteria_September-2023-1.pdf 
• City of Sanctuary Faith stream overview https://faith.cityofsanctuary.org/ 

RESEARCH 

• ‘What does it mean to be a City of Sanctuary?’ Sussex University report October 2025 - https://sussex.figshare.com/ndownloader/files/49783089/1 

RESOURCES AND LINKS 

• Voices in Exile’s Padlet (information and links for ayslum seekers) - https://padlet.com/Voicesinexile/useful-information-x5pyrkpmwbwxaydr 

BRIGHTON AND HOVE GROUPS SUPPORTING REFUGEES 

• Sanctuary on Sea - the Brighton and Hove chapter of City of Sanctuary UK
• Voices in Exile - Supporting refugees, asylum seekers and those with no recourse to public funds
• Care4Calais - Refugee Charity
• https://www.thousand4thousand.org.uk/ 
• https://niwbh.org/ 
• https://refugeeradio.org.uk/