As our journey towards becoming a Theatre of Sanctuary gathers momentum, we would like to take a moment to celebrate the power of creativity in building connections.

The term Theatre of Sanctuary comes from the UK-wide City of Sanctuary movement, which recognises organisations committed not just to offering symbolic support, but to building real practices of welcome, compassion, and inclusion.

For us, it means delivering meaningful opportunities for people seeking sanctuary to engage with theatre and the arts, reducing barriers to participation and fostering a sense of belonging within Cambridge's cultural life.

Since the programme launched in 2025, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to work alongside a wonderful group of young people seeking sanctuary through a series of creative projects in partnership with Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination.

The programme begins with nature walks, supporting time outside observing, sketching, and learning vocabulary with support from a local artist and ornithologist. This reflective activity encourages curiosity while reducing anxiety around participation. We then move into graphic novel making with two further artists from Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination, deepening storytelling skills, and experimenting with new materials. Finally, these experiences feed into drama workshops led by Phosphorus Theatre, where participants are already more comfortable taking creative risks, working together, and expressing themselves. Each term is celebrated with a trip to the theatre.

Our first sessions focus on observation in nature. Guided by an ornithologist and supported by a local artist, our groups spend time outdoors exploring the natural world around them, learning the names of different animal and plant species as they go. For many of the participants, the experience has found its way into schoolwork inspiring beautiful paintings, drawings, and new language. Creative activities such as these support participants in strengthening their sense of connection to their local landscapes, each other and themselves.

Deepening storytelling skills and experimenting with new materials, local artists from Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination support students in creating their own graphic novel scenes. The combination of creative illustration with storytelling has proven to be a beautiful medium for students to articulate their personal experiences while consolidating their learning of English. A selection of these imaginative works and those created during the nature journalling will be displayed at an exhibition on Saturday 20 June 2026 at Cambridge Central Library as part of the Refugee Week Community Fair.

With more confidence and a deeper connection amongst the group, we had a lot of fun delivering engaging drama workshops in partnership with Phosphorus Theatre, which will continue next term. Drama sessions in particular give participants the chance to express themselves creatively while building confidence in a supportive and playful environment.

We end each term with a celebratory trip to the Theatre. For several participants, it was their very first time stepping inside a theatre and experiencing live performance.

Each year, through our subsidised ticket programme we help make the magic of pantomime accessible to those who may otherwise face barriers to experiencing live theatre. Supporting refugee families remains one of our key priorities.

For our 2025/2026 pantomime season, we were delighted to provide 179 subsidised tickets to people seeking sanctuary, helping many individuals and families enjoy their very first theatre experience. This was only made possible through the generosity of our supporters.

We are already looking forward to this years’ Jack and Beanstalk trips and sharing the joy of pantomime with even more people in our community.

Theatre, at its heart, is a place of belonging, friendship, and connecting through shared cultural experiences. We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who is part of our work towards becoming a Theatre of Sanctuary.

We give our extended thanks to the Cambridge City Council Resettlement Grants, the Local Government East English Language Integration Programme, and everyone who is supporting our wider Creative Learning & Engagement work.

If you want to hear more about our work with sanctuary seeking communities, please get in touch with Katie Short, Creative Learning and Engagement Manager, [email protected]