Two community workers, Diana Tickell and Liz Humphries, started a group called Refugees in Oxford. This group ensured that refugee children and their families received education, healthcare and support, and informed teachers and social workers about the needs of refugee families.

in November of this year, the first immigration detainees were transferred to Campsfield House (immigration detention centre) in Kidlington, just outside Oxford. Local groups were determined to support people who were held at the centre or had recently been released. Various groups came together each month to coordinate their response, as part of a forum chaired by Alasdair Mackenzie of Asylum Aid.

Members of the Oxford Black and White Christian Partnership also began visiting the detainees. In addition to requesting clothing, books and phone cards, the detainees asked for help in finding a lawyer, an interpreter, or medical treatment. In response, the Detainee Support Group was established. Doctors, social workers and psychiatrists volunteered their time and skills to help detainees with psychological and physical issues that were being exacerbated by being in detention. Meanwhile, local people stood bail for detainees, at their own expense, and provided them with an address – to help secure their release.

Professor Terence Ranger, in collaboration with the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University, organised regular day schools to educate volunteers, members of the public and journalists about the conditions facing asylum seekers, refugees and detainees

Detainees were now being released without requiring an address, only to then face homelessness in Oxford.

Changes to benefit regulations led to increasing destitution among asylum seekers.

In response to an increasing need for support for asylum seekers, Asylum Welcome and Detainee Support was established as a registered charity on 25 September 1996. The charity was based in Alfred Street in the centre of Oxford; it operated out of one room and was funded by a grant from the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice. Professor Ranger became its patron.

Refugees in Oxford became part of Asylum Welcome.

The number of asylum seekers in Oxford increased significantly, particularly after 1999 when Kosovars began arriving in Oxford. In 1999, a new cashless system of vouchers was introduced for all asylum seekers this caused great hardship and Asylum Welcome was able to provide essential help. A rapidly growing group of volunteers ensured that the organisation was never short of support.

By this year, Asylum Welcome had moved to bigger premises on the busy Cowley Road, featuring the distinctive doorway that forms the basis of its logo. Asylum Welcome had set up a thriving education service to provide English tuition and access to further and higher education – a crucial gateway for integration into British society. It had also started a programme to support an increasing number of young asylum seekers who were arriving in Oxford unaccompanied by parents or guardians.

Asylum Welcome, as it became more established in Oxford, was able to make a significant contribution to local debates – promoting understanding of the experiences and rights of asylum seekers, refugees and detainees. Successful fundraising enabled a small staff team to be employed, whilst its volunteer base remained its driving force.

Campsfield House IRC closed suddenly, 25 years after it had first opened. This decision was welcomed by Asylum Welcome. The charity worked hard to review the implications of this and to ensure that its energy and experience were used in the most useful ways. By this year, Asylum Welcome was already running a range of advisory and support services including the Welcome Centre, adult and family advice service, a youth service for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (including a weekly youth club), food bank, education and employment service, and bike and IT projects.

The Covid-19 pandemic reshaped Asylum Welcome’s work almost overnight. Services moved rapidly to remote and crisis-led delivery as demand rose sharply for food, hardship support, housing advice and emotional support.

Two new services were launched: a prison visiting project at HMP Huntercombe, supporting foreign national prisoners facing immigration issues, and Europa Welcome, helping vulnerable EU citizens apply for settled or pre-settled status after Brexit. In the same year, Asylum Welcome updated its charitable objects to explicitly include migrants at risk of deportation, while maintaining asylum seekers and refugees as its core focus.

Covid-related pressures continued into 2021, alongside growing delays in asylum decision-making.

In August 2021, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan prompted an urgent local response as Afghan evacuees arrived in Oxfordshire.

Many families were housed in temporary hotel accommodation across the county. Asylum Welcome rapidly redeployed staff and volunteers to provide intensive, day-to-day support. This included help with food and essential items, advocacy with statutory agencies, school placements, GP registration, mental health support, and practical orientation for families who had arrived with little notice and often after traumatic journeys. What began as an emergency response quickly became sustained support, as temporary accommodation stretched into many months.

The year was defined by overlapping humanitarian crises.

In January 2022, a new intensive family support programme launched to help newly resettled families rebuild stability and independence.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian refugees began arriving in Oxfordshire from March onwards. Asylum Welcome expanded its work again, supporting people arriving through hosting schemes and helping both guests and hosts navigate unfamiliar systems, access services, and address emerging safeguarding and wellbeing needs.

In November 2022, an asylum hotel opened in Oxford, creating a long-term asylum accommodation site within the city for the first time. This marked a major shift in local asylum provision. Asylum Welcome responded by developing sustained outreach and advice for residents, many of whom were facing prolonged uncertainty, limited financial support, and isolation within hotel accommodation.

In December 2022, the spare bedroom hosting service Sanctuary Hosting formally became part of Asylum Welcome, strengthening the organisation’s ability to prevent homelessness and offer safe, short-term accommodation to people with no other options.

As Afghan and Ukrainian families increasingly moved into settled housing, Asylum Welcome’s focus shifted toward people still trapped in the asylum system.

Many were now living for long periods in asylum hotels in Oxford, Abingdon, Witney and Banbury. Outreach work intensified, with staff and volunteers spending increasing time supporting people to understand the asylum process, prepare claims, gather evidence, and cope with long delays — often in the context of severe shortages in legal aid. This year marked a clear shift from short-term emergency response to sustained, high-intensity support for people facing long-term uncertainty.

On 11 May, the first Oxford Sanctuary Fair was held at Oxford Town Hall, hosted collaboratively by the University of Oxford, Asylum Welcome, and Oxford City Council.

Asylum Welcome deepened its focus on asylum seekers still trapped in the system.

Services were reorganised to include a distinct Outreach Service working directly in asylum hotels, alongside Adult & Family and Youth Services. Client-led advocacy secured a limited number of free bus passes for asylum seekers in Oxford.

In August 2024, Asylum Welcome was named in far-right threats; hundreds of local people gathered outside its offices and the Oxford asylum hotel in a powerful show of solidarity.

In December 2024, Oxford City Council was awarded Local Authority of Sanctuary accreditation by the national organisation City of Sanctuary. This very positive step was welcomed by Asylum Welcome, which had worked closely with the council throughout the process, following its 2023 commission to carry out a Sanctuary Needs Assessment.

In March 2025, Oxfordshire County Council became the first county council in the UK to achieve Local Authority of Sanctuary accreditation, reflecting strengthened county-wide partnership working.

On 1 May 2025, Sarah Totterdell and Dr Hari Reed began their roles as Joint CEOs following the retirement of long-serving CEO Mark Goldring.

In December 2025, Campsfield reopened as an immigration detention centre, renewing local concern about detention practices and the welfare of vulnerable detainees. Asylum Welcome announced a three-month pilot visiting service and began fundraising to extend this work.