People seeking sanctuary – definitions
Newsletters
Reports
2024:
Refugee Hub Casework Report 2024
PCoS Trustees Annual Report 23-24 FINAL
Supporting Migrant Women Impact Report-2024
Portsmouth City of Sanctuary Service Impact Evaluation Interim Report, February 2024 JM v2
2023:
PCoS Refugee Hub Casework Statistics and Impact Report: Oct 2021 – Dec 2023
Policies and Statements
Click here to download Portsmouth City of Sanctuary’s information leaflet!
Not in Our Name PCoS Paper Jan 2024
Equality and Diversity Policy v.4 2024
PCoS Safeguarding Adults Policy Version 2023 (
PCoS Child Safeguarding Policy v.6 2024
Child Safeguarding Reporting Form
Information and documents from our supporting organisations
State of the Nation: the UK asylum system – British Red Cross report y/e June 2023
PositiveMinds Portsmouth Information
HIVE Portsmouth Directory of Services
Hate Crime Experiences of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (British Red Cross)
Support for Refugee and Asylum Seekers (British Red Cross)
Appropriate Neurodivergent Language (Flow Observatorium)
Hate Crime- A Guide for Victims and Witnesses of Hate Crime
Imagine Portsmouth: city-wide consultation
City of Sanctuary Resources
Resources (cityofsanctuary.org)
New briefing: Principles for Asylum Dispersal
As more areas will be housing people seeking asylum this checklist will equip any organisations wanting to ensure they are welcomed and supported. People should live in #CommunitiesNotCamps
Briefing Principles for Asylum Dispersal
Help for Households
In response to increasing prices and the pressures around the cost of living, the Government has launched the ‘Help for Households campaign‘ to raise awareness of the support available amongst those that need it most and help build consumer confidence. The campaign aims to explain the different schemes available (including new, exceptional one-off payments and existing benefits and schemes), and making public aware of the actions that government – and businesses – are taking. Besides the Government support via benefits, the Gov.uk webpage includes a link to discounts and offers that may be helpful.
Know your rights guide
Migrants Rights Network have put together a very useful guide to help migrants understand their rights and how to assert them. Read it here.
University Project on loneliness among migrant and ethnic minority groups
.A cross-faculty team from the University of Sheffield, Brunel and De Montfort Universities have focused on better understanding loneliness among migrant and ethnic minority groups, aiming to identify successful approaches to reducing loneliness among them. While loneliness is increasingly recognised as a social problem with significant implications for mental and physical health, research addressing these issues within these groups is limited and they may face increased risks.
The chief investigator on the project, remarked: “This was an exciting project in which we worked with members of the public to assess and summarise the existing research evidence. The project was unusual in looking beyond older people to consider loneliness at all ages and life-stages.” More info can be found here: Sheffield University website & NIHR Journals library pages and an excellent & concise graphic booklet that summarises the findings available online too.
Lifeline For All Report from The Children’s Society
This report addresses a main driver of poverty amongst children in modern-day Britain: the no recourse to public funds condition placed on their leave to remain or associated with their parents’ immigration status.
Safeguarding black girls from child sexual exploitation
This short publication discusses why the evidence base about child sexual abuse of black girls and women is limited, and what is known from the current research. It explains the biases that may come in to play even when practitioners and services have good intentions to be inclusive, and how to work to address these. It also provides tips to help you critically reflect on how language such as ‘BAME’ can influence thinking and practice.
Portsmouth FGM Operational Group
These resources draw on research and evidence from global efforts to end female genital mutilation (FGM) to highlight some key lessons for sustaining progress and effecting change.
The Population Council Report emphasises the need to understand local variations in the practice and tailored interventions; that social and cultural underpinnings of the practice are changing; the central role of the health sector; and that while laws are necessary they require social legitimacy.
28 Too Many Model Law picks up on this last point, highlighting key features that any anti-FGM law should include as a minimum to be effective. The report recognises that while laws alone cannot end FGM and will need to be adapted to individual countries’ contexts, their absence fundamentally undermines efforts to eradicate it.
The Berer article* focuses on the criminalisation of FGM in the UK, and provides a cautionary tale about anti-FGM law by highlighting the injustice can arise from the pursuit of FGM prosecutions, in spite of good public health intentions.
*Berer, M. (2020) ‘ Prosecution of female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom: Injustice at the intersection of good public health intentions and the criminal law’ Medical Law International Volume: 19 issue: 4, page(s): 258-281
Right to Remain has developed an online version of the Asylum Navigation board game. Information Cards and Problem Cards help participants to understand each step of the UK asylum system and what people can do to be in a better position.