College of Sanctuary

December has been a busy

month of celebrations as we held three events to mark College of Sanctuary month.

Schools & Colleges of Sanctuary is an initiative from Bristol City of Sanctuary, which aims to foster positive attitudes within schools, colleges and their communities around people seeking sanctuary, and support schools and colleges to take positive steps towards being places of safety and inclusion for all.

First, we held a College of Sanctuary breakfast on 3 December at Ashley Down Centre, where we welcomed community leaders and representatives from charitable organisations to discuss initiatives happening across Bristol to foster an inclusive environment for all. Local councillor Ruth Pickersgill gave a talk about the importance of City and College of Sanctuary statuses, while City of Bristol College’s Cathy Bowstead and Carolyn Nye spoke about what we do to support these initiatives within the College.

Next, we were honoured to welcome Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees to College Green on 9 December to officially receive our College of Sanctuary award. Being an accredited College of Sanctuary means we are committed to being a safe and welcoming place for people whose lives were in danger in their own country. We are proud to help our students, staff and wider community to understand what it means to be seeking sanctuary, and to extend a welcome to everyone as equal, valued members of our college community. Finally, it was over to our fantastic hospitality and catering tutors and students on 13 December for a special College of Sanctuary lunch at our City Restaurant. We welcomed 30 of our ESOL students, both past and present, and representatives from Off the Record, Bristol Refugee Festival and Borderlands.

One of our lunch guests, Mustafa, said: “I just would like to thank you for the wonderful lunch celebration which took place yesterday. It meant a lot to me. I cannot explain how proud I am to be here within this great society and wonderful people. Thanks to everyone who attended and to the great students who cooked this delicious food.”

You can find out more about our College of Sanctuary status here.

Meet the College of Sanctuary Steering Group

Cathy Bowstead Director of Foundation Learning & Skills

Time at college: 27 years

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

Contributed to re-accreditation of College of Sanctuary. CoBC lead for planning the CoS month & lead for continuing CoS activities/raising internal and external awareness.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I represented CoBC on two educational trips to Tanzania, these trips were life changing!

Carolyn Nye Head of Department - ESOL

Time at college: 20 years

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

Supporting students and staff to get involved to celebrate our diverse student body, to support refugee causes and to raise the profile of our college as a College of Sanctuary.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I lived in Cambodia for four years with my two young daughters.

Rob Stewart Director of Quality & Intervention

Time at college: Nine years

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

I am the lead for quality at the College and helped to coordinate the application for the College of Sanctuary award.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I have represented Great Britain in an age group level duathlon.

Jonny Elphinstone Head of Safeguarding /DSL

Time at college: Four years

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

I work with the safeguarding team to support student safety and wellbeing.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I once took part in the beard and moustache world championships (I had a big curly moustache). I didn’t win.

Javinder Singh College Chaplain & Multi-faith Chaplaincy Coordinator

Time at college: Three years

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

Pastoral support for staff and students. Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I’ve travelled to 167 countries.

Jessica Thorne Quality Administrator

Time at college: One year

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

Administrator for the group.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I am a fan of musicals and cheesy Christmas movies.

Erin Hewitt Events Officer

Time at college: Four months

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

Helping our steering group organise events to celebrate College of Sanctuary month.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I love cats! Especially my cat Tiger who only has three legs - adopt don’t shop!

From top to bottom:

Jessica Thorne, Jonny Elphinstone, Cathy Bowstead, Erin Hewitt, Javinder Singh, Rob Stewart, Jonathan Scanlon, Carolyn Nye.

Jonathan Scanlon Programme Manager – ESOL 16-18

Time at college: Six years

Brief description of your role with the CoS:

I am working as part of the College representing our young ESOL learners to ensure they are provided with a quality education and any additional support to enable them to thrive in the City. This is achieved through close working partnerships with external parties such as social workers, local authorities and charities.

Interesting fact about yourself:

I am a keen footballer and have played for a team almost every year since I was six years old, breaking from this very briefly during the latter years of secondary school to focus on my studies.