19th September 2014
The UK’s first ever Sanctuary in Parliament event was held earlier this month (2nd September) and our SU President, Lorenzo Niyongabo, was invited as a guest speaker.
Sanctuary in Parliament
The event was hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, and was designed to give parliamentarians an opportunity to learn more about the City of Sanctuary movement from refugees and volunteers.
It took place in Committee Room 11 (also known as The Grey Room) at the Houses of Parliament and around 30 members of parliament attended including Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East. Bristol is one of the UK’s 30 Cities of Sanctuary and St Brendan's is one of only 10 schools or colleges in the country to have been awarded College of Sanctuary or School of Sanctuary status.
A College of Sanctuary is a college that is committed to being a safe and welcoming place for people whose lives were in danger in their own country. Lorenzo was asked to speak at this event after the impressive speech he gave earlier this year at The Mansion House in Bristol when the College was awarded its College of Sanctuary status.
