The University was delighted to be awarded University of Sanctuary status in November 2020: Bath becomes University of Sanctuary for refugees and asylum seekers. Getting the award was a mark of much good work that was already underway at the University and is a sign of our ongoing commitment to work with and support people seeking sanctuary. The award will be refreshed every three years and will require us to continually review and refine our activities and support.

The City of Sanctuary organisation, who make the University of Sanctuary award, have now provided us with feedback of areas we could continue to develop. This work is being driven by a steering group currently led by Professor Peter Lambert, but we want to share this feedback with all our staff and students, as being a University of Sanctuary is a collective endeavour.

Outreach and Community Work

The assessors recognised that the University already does a great deal of outreach and community work and so it was recommended that the University created an outreach plan, looking at all the work taking place in the University (including by student groups) so that this was able to be reviewed by the working group as a coordinated undertaking.

If you or your team are involved in supporting refugees or asylum seekers, either through direct support or through your research, please contact Jenny Medland so we can see if there are opportunities to link our work together.

Support for Undergraduate Students

Building on our sector leading Postgraduate Sanctuary Scholarships and the existing support of over 20 undergraduate refugee students through Gold Scholarships or specific bursaries, it was recommended that the University review the support options for undergraduate students.

Our student STAR and Amnesty groups are currently undertaking a fundraising drive to support this approach and you can see their campaign page: Equal Access at Bath Crowdfunding campaign