Our goal is to raise £40,000 by the end of 2019.

Since Sanctuary in Chichester launched in January 2016, we’ve achieved a lot.

Thanks to the £30,000 we’ve already received from our generous supporters we’ve been able to make a real difference to the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in West Sussex. Our activities include supporting Syrian refugee families and providing twice-weekly drop in sessions, English language tuition, emergency accommodation and financial support.

Now we’ve launched a campaign to raise £40,000 so we can do much more.  With this funding we want to:

• Create more drop-in facilities
• Help other Syrian families arrive and settle in West Sussex
• Extend our language learning service
• Offer more friendship-building and mentoring opportunities, potentially using sport as a focus
• Provide shelter to destitute asylum-seekers, sometimes at short notice
• Increase awareness of, and access to, our services
• Boost understanding among local residents of the issues that refugees and asylum seekers face.

Our fundraising appeal has got off to a great start, collecting £20,000 (50% of our £40,000 target) since the late November 2017 launch.

Donate here.

A creative supporter had designed the following graphic to help us track our progress. As we get nearer to our £40,000 target, the golden balls kicked by ‘Chich’ the footballer will get will nearer to the net. We chose a football scene, rather than the traditional fundraising thermometer, to mark successful milestones due to many of the young refugees we support being avid football fans – and to mark the birth of our very own team, Nations United.

How you can help:

• You can attend one of our fundraising events. Please check our forthcoming events page and keep an eye on our social media for details.
• You can hold your own fundraising event on our behalf, whether it’s a coffee morning or a sponsored bike ride. We’ve listed some of our ideas for fundraising here but would love to hear yours, and to help you with fundraising information and materials.
• You can join our friendly fundraising group, which meets every month in Chichester and is doing great things.
• Share our fundraising leaflet with friends and family or help us hand them out in public.

• Donate. No amount is too small (or large!)

– £15 could pay for an English language textbook.

– £25 could cover the monthly cost of broadband internet so a refugee family is able to contact loved ones.

– £100 would provide a destitute asylum seeker with meals for a month.

Visit our Donations page to find out more about giving.

• Share our campaign on social media.

For more information about fundraising for Sanctuary in Chichester please contact rebecca.dowman@cantab.net.

We are now on Easyfundraising! Click here to donate to us for free when you shop online.