Welcome to Sheffield, Little Amal
After a staggering 8,000km journey from the Turkey-Syria border, Little Amal will arrive in the Steel City this Friday (October 29) as she nears the end of her trek to Manchester.
The 3.5m puppet, which represents a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl, will arrive via boat at Victoria Quayside to be greeted by our Sheffield community.
While Sheffield began welcoming refugees from Syria in 2014, some of the Steel City’s first asylum seekers arrived as far back as the 17th century with the arrival of French Huguenots.
Our city has a strong history of both welcoming and supporting refugees and asylum seekers becoming the UK’s first ever City of Sanctuary in 2007.
Magid Magid, Sheffield’s Doc-Martin wearing former Lord Mayor and Green Party MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, came to the UK as a child refugee from Somalia.
Not only does our city boast a great tradition of supporting people seeking sanctuary, but we still have loads of chances to support the community too!
There are loads of Sheffield-based charities that aim to help refugees and asylum seekers and here at our SU you can find out more about all the opportunities to get involved.
City of Sanctuary, an organisation that works to create welcoming and safe spaces, promote safety and wellbeing, and strengthen the movement for rights for people seeking sanctuary in Sheffield, offers many fantastic opportunities to get involved.
Student Action for Refugees (STAR) is a national organisation with a strong Sheffield branch that works to campaign, volunteer, and build better education around the challenges that these communities face.
Our very own volunteering team here at the Students’ Union promote and support loads of student volunteer roles as well. From interpreter positions for students that speak Farsi, Arabic, or Kurdish/Kurmanji to reception-based roles, there’s something for everyone wanting to get involved.
You can visit the Sheffield Volunteering website to view all of the opportunities available!
Taylor Ogle, Sheffield SU International and Community Officer 2021–22
