Following Ben Margolis's inspiring talk, we are hoping to organise a date and venue for a follow up meeting in October, to bring together other key people in the community to take this forward. These could - should! - include people such as councillors, heads of schools/college, local business leaders, sports organisations, churches, Cathedral and other community groups. There are already several multicultural groups in Bury, such as the Multicultural Women’s Group, Bury Interfaith and BICO (Bury St Edmunds Islamic Cultural Organisation).

Could you please contact as many people as possible to tell them about City of Sanctuary and to ask if they would be involved? As soon as we have fixed a date, I will then ask you to let me know who is able to come.

In order to fix a date, we also need a venue. Amnesty BSE is keen to be involved, but we do not have the people or resources to take a leading role. This needs to be taken forward by people representing a variety of interests across Bury St Edmunds. Is anyone able to provide a suitable venue, or have a contact who could do this? Someone who would be willing to chair a committee?

We could be given training in how to speak to hostile people.

In the meantime, you will remember that Ben told us about the forthcoming regional event in Colchester on October 6th.  

Date   : 6 Oct 2018

Time  : 11:00 – 16:00

Venue: First Site, Colchester

Colchester will be the host of the 2018 City of Sanctuary Eastern Regional Gathering. The gathering is open to all, whether or not you are already involved with a City of Sanctuary group.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to go that day, so look forward to feedback from those who are able to attend. It sounds great. There’s a registration form on the website.

https://cityofsanctuary.org/2018/06/25/city-of-sanctuary-eastern-region…

Do, please, let me know how you get on and, if other people are happy for me to have their email address, I can then include them directly when the invitations are sent out.

Thanks. Let’s hope that, together, we can make this work!