Refugee Week 2026 (15-21 June) is drawing to a close across Cambridgeshire, and sanctuary commitments have been unfolding at the county level.
On Thursday, 18 June, Cambridgeshire County Council marked the first anniversary of achieving Council of Sanctuary status with a celebration event at Cambridge Central Library. The county council was awarded the designation in March 2025 by City of Sanctuary UK, making it one of the first county councils in the country to receive the recognition.
The anniversary event included the formal presentation of the award, alongside a welcome address from the Chair of the Council, a speech from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and a video message from City of Sanctuary UK.
“It was a privilege to mark the first anniversary of our Council of Sanctuary award with partners and communities. This recognition reflects the collective effort across Cambridgeshire to ensure that people seeking sanctuary are welcomed, supported and able to rebuild their lives.”
Cllr Peter McDonald, Chair of Cambridgeshire County Council
County Council’s celebrations
The two councils’ Refugee Week programmes reveal a difference in approaches. Cambridge City Council, which has held City of Sanctuary status since 2025, used the week to celebrate culture and young people by organising the Community Fair on 20 June and the Michael Rosen concert on 28 June. Cambridgeshire County Council, a much newer holder of the sanctuary status, consolidated its institutional standing and reaffirmed strategic commitments during this week.
Cllr Alex Bulat, the county council’s Migrant Champion, framed the anniversary as evidence of substance behind the title.
“Being a Council of Sanctuary is about more than a title,”
she said,
“it is about the practical steps we take every day to support people who are building new lives in Cambridgeshire.”
Randhir Wanigasekara, UNHCR Deputy Representative to the UK, told the gathering that “integration starts locally – in schools, neighbourhoods and frontline services,” and that as the world marks 75 years of the 1951 Refugee Convention, local leadership “has never been more important.”
Where both councils stand
Cambridgeshire County Council says it remains committed to delivering its Sanctuary Strategy and Action Plan, with the stated aim of ensuring services are “inclusive, accessible and responsive to the needs of those seeking safety.” The council has linked this work to its broader ambitions to enable “full, healthy lives for all” and to ensure “fairness and opportunity wherever we can.”
Taken together, the city’s creative showcase and the county’s anniversary milestone offer two complementary readings of what sanctuary status means in Cambridgeshire this year: one expressed through performance and public participation, the other through formal recognition and strategic continuity. Both councils, in their own ways, used Refugee Week to argue that the designation is not just symbolic.
