Events and learning resources

Putting on events and providing professional development opportunities related to sanctuary is an important part of our University of Sanctuary work. These activities are a good opportunity to share, spotlight and celebrate sanctuary work which is being developed inside and outside our University.

Our flagship annual event is Breaking Barriers Refugee Week, which has been running since 2018, and held exclusively online since 2021. The week typically includes events showcasing different aspects of our work as a University of Sanctuary, a ‘Researching Refugeedom’ session outlining sanctuary-related research across the University and beyond, workshops for sanctuary students and those supporting them, and sessions with a wider scope (e.g. focusing on volunteering, wellbeing and sanctuary-related publications).

We are pleased to be able to offer Trauma Informed ESOL for Refugees workshops to other organisations, based on insights gained from research that we have been conducting in this area. We have also compiled a list of useful resources for any practitioners or volunteers supporting refugee-background students, particularly in English language teaching contexts.