Britain’s asylum seeker ‘sanctuaries’: The towns and cities bucking the trend by welcoming migrants and refugees to their communities with open arms

Towns and cities across Britain have been in uproar over the number of asylum seekers they have been asked to accommodate – but some are bucking the trend. 

While many locals complain about pressure on local services and housing, others are choosing to openly advertise their willingness to accept more new arrivals. 

The City of Sanctuary movement aims to make asylum seekers and refugees feel more welcome by persuading local voluntary groups to sign up as members. 

Local authorities can join the network and, once approved, are categorised as a City of Sanctuary – with more than two dozen given this status so far. 

They include Brighton, Newcastle and York – which MailOnline visited to speak to volunteers and locals about their motivation for wanting to welcome asylum seekers. 

Out of these, Newcastle has taken in by far the highest share of supported asylum seekers at 43 per 10,000 people or 1,323 total, according to House of Commons Library data up to the end of December. 

There, MailOnline met Joan Hoult of Walking With, in Wallsend, which has 468 registered asylum seekers on its books, around 280 of whom are still in frequent contact.

She is supported by a team of volunteers who help organise trips, bike rides and football competitions. They also provide essentials such as toilet paper and food and English lessons.

NEWCASTLE: Clare Campbell, Shams Moussa, Joan Hoult and Karol Iwan, team members at local charity Walking With in Wallsend

A view of Grainger Street, the handsome planned thoroughfare that graces Newcastle city centre 

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Ms Hoult, 62, said her clients were fleeing war, persecution and violence from criminal gangs in their home countries.

‘These people often come from countries where torture and corruption are rife and if they need to flee with their children then they must be desperate,’ she said. 

‘If someone comes here, they register with us, and we support them with their basic needs. We provide them with food, clothes and toiletries.

‘Some people think they are coming and taking our jobs but they can’t work until they get leave to remain, which can take years.

‘Once we had a neurosurgeon, but she wasn’t able to work. People cry when they come here because they’ve had to break up their family.’

Ms Hoult claimed there was a misconception that asylum seekers had all ‘come from rags’.  

‘Often they are rich people with businesses and cars but criminals go and take it off them and shoot their relatives,’ she said. 

‘This is about treating people like human beings. If we had war and were desperate, I would hope someone would welcome us.’

BRIGHTON: Mark Hedger said he was proud of the city for being welcoming to migrants 

Only 157 asylum seekers are currently listed in official figures as receiving support in Brighton and Hove, less than the national average 

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Newcastle was granted ‘City of Sanctuary’ status in 2014 as part of a growing movement aimed at providing safe spaces for families seeking refuge. 

Since then, local charities have become inundated with people seeking help, many of whom have made treacherous journeys to the UK across land and sea. 

Mother-of-two Nasrin Khaleghi arrived in Newcastle as an asylum seeker eight years ago with her husband and first son.

The 37-year-old, from Iran, has since given birth to her second boy, now seven, and works as an Uber driver.

She said: ‘My husband was an asylum seeker and he came to live here because he changed his religion, which is illegal in Iran.

‘Everything was very hard. We had to come here as well. I joined him shortly afterwards, with my oldest. My little one was born in Newcastle .

‘We are happy here because it has been a very welcoming place for us. A lot of my relatives live in multicultural places in the south of England. 

‘But we wanted to stay here because people have been helpful to us.’

YORK: Suzanne O’Farrell said ‘genuine asylum seekers’ should be welcomed, but it was important they were not economic migrants or ‘young men who disappear’  

York currently supports 352 asylum seekers (17 per 10,000 of population)

Ms Khaleghi admitted she had second thoughts after witnessing an anti-immigration protest happening nearby but was reassured by a customer who made her feel welcome.

She said: ‘Around 200 people were near our street and they were against asylum seekers.

‘I had a passenger and I told him I like this city but after seeing the protest I wasn’t sure about staying.

‘He told me, don’t worry, it is only 200 people, there will be half a million other people in Newcastle who will welcome you.’

Davis Belcoe, 36, now calls Newcastle home after he moved from Ghana one month ago to study drama in Sunderland.

He said: ‘It is very welcoming here and I love the energy of the North East. The security is great. People feel safe when they come here.

‘Residents are very helpful and responsive to people who move over.’

Meanwhile, local people insisted the city had always welcomed outsiders. 

Paul Wordsworth (left) is a retired vicar who currently heads the group York City of Sanctuary. Local woman Alison Letten, 57, (right) said asylum seekers had ‘so much to offer’

York is best known for its famous medieval minister (pictured here on a bright spring day) 

Retired care worker Norman Huthart, 67, said: ‘The city has welcomed people seeking asylum and I would like to think they get the help they need here. It is a friendly place.

‘I think it is a good thing that these people can call Newcastle home.’

And special needs worker Jodie McMillan – who is based in the multicultural west end of the city – said she had found the newcomers she had met to be friendly. 

‘Even just working in the schools, you can tell how much the families are appreciative of what we do,’ said the 24-year-old.

‘There will always be some people who complain about them coming over but it’s important to be diverse.’

The famously right-on city of Brighton on England’s south coast is another place that prides itself on welcoming people in need. 

Despite this, only 157 asylum seekers are currently listed in official figures as receiving support in the local area. 

This is equivalent to six per 10,000 of the population, less than the national average of 17. 

BRIGHTON: Ogun Imam and Ozgur Ozturk both came to Brighton from Turkey and are delighted at the welcome they’ve received 

A general view of the seafront in Brighton 

Despite this, those who have arrived insisted they felt welcome. 

Kamal, a former asylum seeker from Sudan, said: ‘When I came to Hove I had been sent from one place to another but when I came here it was the first time I felt welcomed.

‘The hotel where we lived wasn’t good but the people we spoke to were kind and caring. It was a big change.

‘I had to see a doctor and I had to find my wife and everyone helped me. I was reunited with my wife. I can’t believe the difference. Brighton was welcoming compared to all the places I was before. There are many good people.’

Alex Briault, who runs the Brighton Fishing Museum, said: ‘It doesn’t surprise me that Brighton is ranked highly in welcoming migrants and refugees given it has opened its arms to people who have felt persecuted elsewhere for many, many years.

‘I have absolutely no problem with refugees and migrants in the city – they are most welcome,’ he said. 

On arrival, migrants are welcomed by Sanctuary on Sea – a network of volunteers willing to give their time to support people seeking asylum in the city and put them in touch with the agencies that can help them.

The organisation, part of the wider City of Sanctuary movement, aims to challenge the ‘demonisation’ of refugees.

Alex Briault, who runs the Brighton Fishing Museum, said: ‘I have absolutely no problem with refugees and migrants in the city – they are most welcome’

Brighton is known for its tolerant attitude and has a large university population 

Brighton’s famed tolerance is probably best illustrated by the fact it has the country’s highest concentration of LGBTQI+ residents with 10.7 per cent of the population identifying as having a non-heterosexual sexual orientation.

Mark Hedger, who moved from his hometown of Shoreham-on-Sea, five miles away, said: ‘I love it here. It’s fabulously friendly in a way that places just a little further down the coast simply aren’t.’

Mark, who runs Brighton Bike Hire, said: ‘There are two universities, it is home to the biggest LGBTQ population and by and large it is just a friendly city. I love that the city is so tolerant of migrants. It is who we are.’

Lottie, an MA student at University of Brighton, said: ‘There are many historic reasons why Brighton is so welcoming. It started with the Prince Regent setting up his own libertarian court here with an ”anything goes” approach to social convention.

‘He paved the way for permissiveness across all social norms and it is an incredible place to live.’

Oxgur Ozturk, 32, moved from Izmir in Turkey to Brighton in 2022 and says it is his ‘forever home.’

He said: ‘I wasn’t a refugee but I can see why people like it so much. It has a big feeling of friendliness and there are so many kind people. I want to stay here forever and call it my home.’

His friend Ogun Imam, 31, who also moved from Turkey, said: ‘I’ve never been somewhere so accepting and welcoming. It’s not something I have experienced before and it is a very tolerant, friendly place towards migrants and refugees.’

NEWCASTLE: Joan Hoult is a team member at local voluntary group Walking With Wallsend 

A view of Newcastle city centre along the River Tyne 

Councillor Bella Sankey, Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said: ‘More than 20% of Brighton & Hove’s population was born outside the UK, and this helps make Brighton & Hove the amazing place it is as migrants create jobs, enrich our culture and bring vital skills.

‘As a city, we are committed to being a welcoming place of safety, acceptance and freedom of expression and to offer sanctuary for people fleeing violence and persecution.’

Further north, York currently supports 352 asylum seekers (17 per 10,000 of population). 

Paul Wordsworth, a retired vicar who currently heads the group York City of Sanctuary, said: ‘It’s a movement across the whole of the UK as part of a desire to make people welcome from war torn countries.’

They have given up having an office and work out of various sites around the city, with a drop-in every Thursday at a local church in the city.

Those helped so far include Afghans and 400 people from the Ukraine, mainly women and children. 

There is also a hotel in York where 400 are staying under a Home Office contract.

The committee board includes two former refugees, one of whom was once sent a bullet in the post the message: ‘This one’s for you.’

Mother-of-two Nasrin Khaleghi arrived in Newcastle as an asylum seeker eight years ago with her husband and first son. She now works as an Uber driver 

Davis Belcoe, 36, now calls Newcastle home after he moved from Ghana one month ago to study drama in Sunderland

Another refugee from an African state is regularly rung up in York by the security services back home threatening both him and his family.

Mr Wordsworth said: ‘Quite a lot of people who have fled persecution have often been in prominent positions in their own country.

‘Leading academics who have influence over students are often targeted for speaking out against people disappearing only to find they are next on the list and have 24 hours to get out.’

Some of the clothes are widely inappropriate for the English winter but they soon receive a grant for practical support.

They have interpreters on board as team members, with others coming from all walks of life including the NHS, retired people, teachers, students, and university staff.

They were on red alert during this summer’s far-right riots after being told there was going to be a gathering at a local mosque, but this never materialised. 

‘Nobody turned up,’ he continued. ‘But this is something some people have a strong opposition to and the words they use are quite threatening.’

Unsurprisingly, locals in York were divided on the issue.  

Jodie McMillan said she had found the newcomers she had met to be friendly, while Norman Huthart said Newcastle had a long tradition of welcoming people 

Newcastle city centre including the castle (middle) and High Bridge (left) 

Donald Loews, 74, said: ‘I empathise with them. I would hate to live in a country where you are afraid of things.

‘We are all immigrants if you look back in history.’

But Suzanne O’Farrell said: ‘They have to be genuine asylum seekers, not economic migrants and not gangs of young men who disappear.

‘But how do we prove that? And how do they prove that? – because they never have any proof.

‘You would think if they were genuine they would have some proof. It would be in their interests.

‘Although, sometimes due to circumstances I appreciate that’s sometimes impossible.’

Alison Letten, 57, said: ‘I don’t have a problem with asylum seekers at all. If they are genuine, they have so much to offer – so many of them they really have.

‘Can you imagine being born into a country where you cannot go to school if you are a girl? As a country we have welcomed people from all over the world for centuries.’

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