-
First Cumberland Sanctuary Network Event
Tuesday 26th March 2024 It was great to attend the first meeting of this network and to join with people and organisations in Cumberland, including Penrith and Eden Refugee Network (PERN), Carlisle College, West Cumbria Refugee Support Network, Carlisle Refugee Action Group, Carlisle United Equality and Diversity Officer, umberland Council Refugee Resettlement Programme, Carlisle One…
-
People Seeking Asylum/Refugees & Healthcare – North Cumbria Asylum Seeker Service (NCASS)
22nd March 2024 It was a privilege to attend the workshop on “People seeking asylum and mental health: workshop for professionals and volunteers”, hosted by Judy Freeman from North Cumbria Asylum Seeker Service (NCASS). The workshop furthered awareness and consideration in how to support individuals and the university will need to consider related support as…
-
What next for the Rwanda Bill, Asylum and Sanctuary in Britain?
Weds 13th March 20024 UoC’s Head of Library Services and EDI Manager attended this thought provoking and inspiring event where Professor Phipps and Professor Sigona gave an overview of the origins of the Rwanda Bill, where we are at with the legislation, the future impacts of this bill for people seeking asylum in the UK,…
-
Launch of our first Sanctuary Scholarship
University of Cumbria is pleased to offer one Sanctuary Scholarship per year to forced migrants who are not eligible for student finance. The scholarship consists of: The scholarship is open to a person who has the right to study in the UK on any University of Cumbria full-time undergraduate degree (up to four years in…
-
Presentation at Lancaster University’s UoS Implementation Group meeting
25th January 2024 James Stephens (UoC) and Bob Frost (LU) presented at the UoS Implementation Group meeting on the partnership between LU Library & the University of Cumbria library to support the refugee & asylum seeker community.
-
Global Link Visit to University of Cumbria Library
On 5th December 2023 we welcomed Global Link Lancaster, a charity providing support, advice and information to asylum seekers and refugees, to our campus library at Lancaster. Some of the group expressed a desire to go on to study in HE in the UK, or wanted to keep up their professional development, having come from…
-
West Cumbria’s first Culture Bazaar
26th Nov 2023 Culture Bazaar West, held at Workington Academy on Sunday, was organised by Multicultural Cumbria to bring people from diverse communities together to share their similarities and celebrate differences. Activities included dhol drumming, Bhangra dance, cookery demonstrations, kite making, storytelling, origami, clog dancing, Bharatanatyam Indian classical dance and a cake competition to mark…
-
Cumbria Unity Festival 2023
Cumbria Unity Festival celebrates the strengths and diversity of the people of Cumbria by building community cohesion, advancing equality & social integration. Our annual Cumbria Unity Festival took place between the 8th July and the 22nd July 2023. The theme this year was “The Power of Unity”. The University of Cumbria presented on the Universities…
-
Case study: Library access and support for local refugee and asylum seeker groups
Lancaster University (LU):Lesley English (Head of Library Engagement), Bob Frost (Faculty Librarian Science & Technology) & Nina Jones (Library Services Assistant)University of Cumbria (UoC):Tom Langridge (Library & Student Enquiry Point Co-ordinator), James Stephens (Head of Library Services and University Librarian), Jane Robinson (Library and Learning Spaces Manager) In October 2022 Lancaster University Library and the…
-
Carlisle City of Sanctuary Event 22nd June 2023
James Stephens and Lee McDermott were delighted to be invited to and represent the University in attending a Carlisle City of Sanctuary event at The Border Kirk on Thursday 22nd June, during Refugee Week. Walaa’s Syrian Kitchen prepared a delicious 3 course Syrian meal and this was followed by the presentation of certificates to those…
-
Refugee Week 19th – 25th June 2023
“Our task must be to free ourselves – by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”- Albert Einstein University of Cumbria are celebrating this #RefugeeWeek in the following ways:
-
Race and Intersectionality Research Conference
Wednesday, June 28th, 2023 It’s exciting news that UoC will be hosting its 1st Race and Intersectionality Research Conference. With lots of us thinking about and engaged with EDI, decolonisation, University of Sanctuary, inclusive work and recruitment practices, ways to reduce attainment gaps, and much more, this is a great opportunity to explore the intersection…
-
Multicultural Cumbria Cultural Bazaar
Multicultural Cumbria hosted their Cultural Bazaar at Carlisle College this weekend, from 12-6pm on Saturday and Sunday. James Stephens from the University of Cumbria attended with a stall updating attendees on our University of Sanctuary developments. James said that the “event had a fantastic atmosphere and energy and I was really pleased to have been…
-
Asylum Seeker and Refugee Social Work Connection Event
Friday 24th March 2023 A University of Cumbria social work lecturer in collaborartion with Mina Banisaeid (Refugee Engagement Officer, Carlisle College) hosted an Asylum Seeker and Refugee Social Work Connection event with BA1 Social Work Students on Friday 24th March. The students used picture cards to support discussions and the idea for this event came…
-
Third Welcome to Your City event in Carlisle – Saturday 28th Jan
It was a pleasure to be able to offer some small operational support to the fantastic third Welcome to Your City event organised by Carlisle Refugee Action Group (CRAG) and Carlisle City of Sanctuary as Network. Nearly a hundred people from a wide range of backgrounds came together, hosted by Carlisle United at Brunton Park.…
-
STAR event during Student Enhancement Week Jan 23
Huge thanks to Sophie from Student Action for Refugees for running a session for students during our Enhancement Week 23rd-27th Jan 2023. Sophie spoke about how the STAR charity helps sanctuary seekers on their journeys into higher education. Sophie explianed that by setting up a STAR society here at UoC, students would participate in rewarding…
-
Library access and support for local refugee & asylum seeker groups
Community access collaborative project between Lancaster University and University of Cumbria: Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria are working together to provide community access and borrowing rights for both libraries for those from the AS&R community hoping to progress to HE study or needing to convert their existing qualifications in the UK The Community Borrowing…
-
University of Sanctuary conference 19th Jan 2023
Last week was fourth annual Universities of Sanctuary Conference hosted by the University of Edinburgh. 159 people travelled to Edinburgh (including Beth Loughran, Lecturer in Dance & Movement, IoA, Centre for Arts & Participation, University of Cumbria) to take part in this gathering to discuss access to higher education for people who have experience of…
-
Notes from a UoS Scholarships networking event
This was a really useful event, attended by many Universities of Sanctuary who already offer scholarships as well as some that are planning to do so. This blog post is a summary of what I learnt. Duolingo English Test: This is designed to be more efficient and cheaper (even free) for students seeking to show…
-
Inaugural meeting of our University of Sanctuary Group -21 Nov 2022
Really pleased to have had our first steering group meeting where we discussed the Terms of Reference for the group (19 members): The University of Sanctuary working Group provides a strategic oversight of all activities across University of Cumbria in relation to refugees and asylum seekers with the aim of:• Achieving an organisational culture and…
-
Refugee football at University of Cumbria Lancaster Campus
We are really pleased to have been able to support Global Link with football pitch hire. As the Executive Director of Global Link says, activities such as football are “a vital activity for the 250+ asylum seeking men who have nothing else to do other than attend English classes. They are not allowed to work,…
-
Promoting accessibility in higher education for refugees and asylum seekers at UCLAN
I have heard some very inspiring and difficult stories this morning from speakers talking about their experience of seeking access to Higher Education in Lancashire. A particularly powerful story came from a sanctuary seeker who talked about how, after an initial UK university rejection, one individual working in the admissions team took the time to…
-
Presentation at RACE 2B Conference
To launch the University of Cumbria’s interest in becoming recognised as a University of Sanctuary, James Stephens, Head of Library Services and University Librarian at the University of Cumbria, joined the Race 2B Conference 2022 at the University’s Fusehill Street Campus in Carlisle. The talk focused on the origin of the City of Sanctuary movement…