ABOUT US
Sanctuary Hosting finds short to long term hosting placements for destitute migrants and refugees.
OUR TEAM
Rukiya Khatun
Director
Rukiya has over 8 years experience supporting vulnerable groups in a variety of roles. She has gained her experience through working in the education, health, government and legal sector. Rukiya has worked in both the NHS Adult and Adolescent Mental Health Service, the Oxfordshire Dyslexia Association and as a paralegal for the Infected Blood Inquiry. Through volunteering for the Personal Support Unit, in the Royal Courts of Justice, she has supported litigants from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
Eden Habtemichael
Service Coordinator
Eden was one of the founding members of Sanctuary Hosting, and spent 13 years supervising community led services at Refugee Resource. The UNHCR named Eden as Women of the year at the 2017 ‘Women on the Move Awards’, for her exceptional work to empower refugee and migrant women in the UK. In recent times, Eden worked as a senior broadcast journalist for the BBC’s Horn of Africa service.
Fiona Smith
Service Assistant
Fiona joined Sanctuary Hosting in March 2020, having worked previously as an administrator in the public sector. Her experiences while volunteering and travelling led her to want to use her skills in support of initiatives which care for people and build community.
Isabella Fleitas Fermin
Project Worker - Reading and Berkshire
Isabella has lived in the Dominican Republic, the Canary Islands and England, where she has worked as a caseworker with refugees and asylum seekers. She is an active researcher on refugee integration and well-being, which she makes the prime focus in her work ethic.
Isabella leads on coordinating and building our service in the Reading area and throughout Berkshire.
OUR DIRECTORS
Alison Baxter
Chair of Trustees
Alison was head of publishing for the national charity Directory of Social Change before becoming Chief Executive of OCVA (Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action) for ten years. She is now freelance writer and involved in various voluntary activities.
Luca Galvani
Trustee
Luca has worked for over 20 years in marketing and commercial roles for blue chip organisations such as Unilever, American Express and Tesco, before becoming an entrepreneur in the food and beverage industry. He’s now a business consultant.
He has worked with Help Refugees before as a volunteer, visiting several times the camps in Calais and Dunkirk.
Marc Lafferty
Trustee
Marc has more than 20 years of experience as Managing Director and in Director level sales, marketing, commercial and technical management experience in global companies. He has an MBA from INSEAD. He is involved in various voluntary activities including Sanctuary Hosting and working with the homeless in Oxford.
Joanna Walton
Trustee
Jo has worked in a variety roles across in social housing and the charity sector, including several years managing volunteer programmes around the world. She is now a senior manager in local government, responsible for research, strategy development and business improvement across Housing, Social Care, and Public Health.
Emily Bruce
Trustee
Emily has worked and volunteered in the non-profit sector for most of her career, her expertise being in communications, fundraising and event management. She joined Sanctuary Hosting in 2020 through Oxford Hub’s Trustee Programme.
Kate Bowen
Trustee
For the last 20 years of her career Kate ran her own Communications Consultancy, typically writing speeches, presentations, strategy papers etc for major blue chip companies such as Shell, British Airways and KPMG. Her voluntary activities have ranged from chairing the board of governors for a local primary school, to working with teenage school children through Young Enterprise. She has been a host and volunteer with Sanctuary hosting since 2015.
Dr Kenneth King
Treasurer
Ken has worked for more than 30 years in the higher education sector. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He has been a member of the Mali Development Group and is currently treasurer of Refugee Resource, in Oxford.
Matt Grainger
Trustee
Matt was a journalist in New Zealand, and then in Cambodia in the mid-90s, before he joined Oxfam in the UK. He is head of media now for Oxfam International, where he has worked on its campaigns and humanitarian responses since 2002.
Goytom Fissehaye
Trustee
Originally from Eritrea, Goytom has first hand experience of being a refugee and being homeless. He is now pursuing further studies, has his own place and is working. He has been involved with the hosting scheme since it started and looks forward to seeing it grow.
Rose Haines
Trustee
Rose has worked with people affected by asylum and immigration issues for over 13 years, including with the Refugee Council, The Children’s Society and now as South East of England Operations Manager for the British Red Cross. Rose has played a key part in obtaining four years of Big Lottery Funding for a partnership between the Red Cross, Citizens Advice Reading and Sanctuary Hosting.
Theresa Foster
Trustee
Theresa has over 10 years experience working with Refugees, Asylum Seekers and survivors of Human Trafficking in both the US and the UK. She was involved in the relaunch of Oxford City of Sanctuary and is a founding trustee member of Sanctuary Hosting. Theresa is currently employed as a Quality Officer in Higher Education.
Damon Boughen
Trustee
Damon has worked in the charity sector since 2011, including working for Oxfam for over five years where he worked on supporting refugees in Sudan and Syria. He holds an MA from the University of Warwick in International Relations as well as a First in Business Studies and has been regularly published by the Huffington Post. Alongside this, he has also published a book on gender in international development.
