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Role and Activities

Who is a Sanctuary Ambassador?

Sanctuary Ambassadors are people with lived experience of seeking sanctuary who share and advocate our vision that the UK will be a welcoming place of safety for all in offering sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.

People seeking sanctuary are at the heart of City of Sanctuary UK, their voices, views, experiences and participation are central to shaping the work we do. We recognise, however, that people with lived experience have too often been unheard and spoken for, rather than given the opportunities to participate fully in the sanctuary movement. The Sanctuary Ambassador Network therefore aims to promote the voices and celebrate the contributions of people seeking sanctuary across every sphere and sector of society.

Sanctuary Ambassadors are guided by City of Sanctuary UK’s core values of inclusiveness, openness, participation, inspiration and integrity as well as our Network Principles which can be found on our website.

What do Sanctuary Ambassadors do?

Being a Sanctuary Ambassador can take many forms depending on the interest, capacity and skills of the person, but most activities fall under one of the five categories listed below:

  1. Playing an active role in a local City of Sanctuary group;
  2. Getting involved in the Streams of Sanctuary by being a member of a Stream Steering Group, participating in award appraisal panels or visiting an organisation to support their fulfilment of the Learn/ Embed/Share processes;
  3. Engaging with the media to share their story and involvement with City of Sanctuary and promote the movement of welcome either through the City of Sanctuary communication channels or other trusted media source;
  4. Representing City of Sanctuary at events (meetings, campaigns, conferences, and Sanctuary in Parliament);
  5. Advising on the activities and strategic direction of City of Sanctuary UK by joining the Expert by Experience Operational Advisory Group and/or taking part in any consultations organised by CoS UK.

For more information, please read the Sanctuary Ambassador Role Description.

To register to become a Sanctuary Ambassador, please contact Arooba.

There are no qualifications required to be a Sanctuary Ambassador and the scheme is open to anyone with lived experience who wants to advocate and share our vision of making the UK a welcoming place of safety for all and proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.