ABOUT US
Sanctuary Hosting finds temporary rent-free hosting placements for destitute refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants across the Thames Valley
OUR STORY
The idea for “Sanctuary Hosting” came at the Refugees Welcome in Oxford rally in July 2015. In his speech to the crowd, our founder, Wyon Stansfeld, asked who would be willing to open up their home to a refugee or migrant in need.
The response was startling. Many people volunteered.
And so our service began.
In 2016, Sanctuary Hosting, along with the British Red Cross and Citizens Advice Reading, won funding from the Big Lottery to provide support to refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants across the Thames Valley.
In 2017, Sanctuary Hosting became a registered UK charity.
In 2018, we expanded our staff team to have a Reading base.
Over the years, Sanctuary Hosting has worked with over 120 households to provide hosting and has made available over 25,000 nights of accommodation for those most in need.
OUR MISSION
Sanctuary Hosting is a hosting scheme that provides temporary accommodation for refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants at risk of homelessness in the Thames Valley by matching them with volunteer hosts who offer a free bed. This gives guests a chance to tackle the causes of their homelessness.
Our mission is to help those in need ultimately to find options for independent living in order to reclaim their lives and to engage positively with and integrate into their local community.
Tess McCay
Director
Tess joined Sanctuary Hosting in 2021, having previously worked on Asylum Welcome’s advice and immigration teams. More recently, she coordinated the adult educational programme for the Oxfordshire Afghan Resettlement Scheme. Tess is registered as an OISC immigration adviser and speaks several languages. She has overall responsibility for the safe and effective delivery of our service and is focused on ensuring guest involvement in co-producing all aspects of the service.
Amal Mohammed
Service Coordinator, Berkshire
Amal has extensive experience of working with refugees and asylum seekers and with volunteers. She speaks Arabic and Amharic, is a CELTA-qualified ESOL teacher and is currently studying for a counselling diploma. In addition to coordinating and facilitating hosting placements, Amal is actively engaged in partnership development and volunteer recruitment in order to expand our capacity to help vulnerable people in Reading and across Berkshire.
Eden Habtemichael
Service Coordinator
Eden is a journalist from Eritrea. She was one of the founding members of Sanctuary Hosting in 2015, having spent 13 years supervising community led services at Refugee Resource. The UNHCR named Eden as Woman of the Year at the 2017 ‘Women on the Move Awards’, for her exceptional work to empower refugee and migrant women in the UK. She is passionate about her work and the need to help people out of homelessness and destitution and into independent living.
Fiona Smith
Service Assistant
Fiona joined Sanctuary Hosting in 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. Fiona provides essential administrative support to ensure the smooth-running of our hosting service and she deals with enquiries from our partner organisations and from those interested in volunteering with us.
OUR TRUSTEES
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.
