I was in Glasgow last week for a public meeting about City of Sanctuary at the extremely grand City Chambers building. It was a bit of an experiment, as it was the first time I have organised my own event in another city, rather than being invited by a local group. But Glasgwegians have been such an inspiration to the rest of the UK, especially through their Campaign to Welcome Refugees (see the wonderful short film about them here), that I was intrigued to find out what they thought of the City of Sanctuary movement.

The meeting was introduced by Mary Alice Mansell, a local Quaker. There were just over 20 people, mostly very active in existing support networks for people seeking sanctuary. We had a powerful performance by Actors for Human Rights from 'Asylum Dialogues', which tells the true story of a Glaswegian woman's solidarity with her refugee neighbour. Then I spoke briefly about City of Sanctuary and showed our new short film, and asked participants to form small groups to discuss their responses and ideas.

I was hugely encouraged by the real enthusiasm that came out of the discussions for setting up a Glasgow City of Sanctuary initiative. The people there saw it as an opportunity to celebrate the good relationships and support networks that exist in their city already, and to draw in new people and communities who aren't already involved. Eleven people at the meeting volunteered to set up a working group there and then!

Look out for news of the Glasgow City of Sanctuary initiative as it develops...