New Partnership with Refugee Roots
The Cathedral is working to become a place of greater welcome & belonging for refugees & asylum seekers in Nottingham, through a new partnership with Refugee Roots.
Over the course of the development phase of our Restoring Pugin Project, our team have worked to build and strengthen a partnership with Refugee Roots- a Nottingham based Christian charity that aims to provide a sense of welcome and belonging for those who are navigating the challenges of trying to build a new life in the UK. Their work involves support, friendship and opportunities to take part in activities and workshops across the city.
Early consultation took place with Refugee Roots in Autumn 2023 through the team’s involvement in the Christian Action Network. It became clear from these conversations that there was a lot of potential for the Cathedral to become a place of welcome for refugees and asylum seekers.
We held a pilot event at the Cathedral to see whether their service users would travel to and feel comfortable at the building. In consultation with Refugee Roots the project team designed an activity which offered something new, and would inspire people to learn more about the project and the Restoring Pugin work. The activity identified was a fused glass workshop with local artist Dawn Turner. Each participant would create a fused glass star inspired by the original star covered ceiling in the Cathedral.
The time and length of the session was determined by Refugee Roots and they advertised the opportunity to their service users over a period of four weeks. People were asked to sign up and register for the workshop, and two days before there were 14 people registered. The team were delighted on the night that all fourteen people arrived and participated
Outcomes from the pilot testing: it was clear from the workshop that people would come to the Cathedral and that a relationship could develop from further work in the delivery phase. The plan to offer free holiday activity programming was identified as a way to filll a gap for families within their programme. They were keen to see a programme of creative workshops offered as part of the delivery phase.
As a result of the success of this first pilot we went on to deliver a family embroidery workshop during May half term with 7 attendees, and a focus group activity for Refugee Roots service users with 19 attendees.
A programme of engagement work with Refugee Roots will be built into the activities we will deliver in the next phase of the project.
Get Involved: If you would like to support this outreach work, volunteering your time or resources, then contact the Cathedral Office to find out more and register your interest: [email protected]
