Author Archives: Anne Smith

This week, we witnessed Mamoudou Gassama, a migrant from Mali, hit the headlines – with an extraordinary video of him scaling four stories up the side of a building in Paris to rescue a four-year-old child dangling from a balcony. This remarkable feat of resourcefulness […]

All human beings need a sense of belonging. It is integral to our well-being. A lack of belonging underpins the divisions in UK society that the Casey Review has identified. Segregation, deprivation and social exclusion are both the source and the consequence of failing to feel that we belong.

Speaking of her visits to the Calais Jungle, Sharon Kanolik from The Old Vic/The Young Vic said, “I felt more welcomed than I have anywhere else. People invited me into their tents and offered me food. There were lots of moments of hope and humour, meeting bright resilient people.”

As I walked into the community café, I saw Rima huddled awkwardly in a corner.  I’d met her before.  She was living with a friend from my church who had welcomed her into her home and was supporting her in settling in the UK.  Today […]

Walking up to the door, I noticed Sahar. She avoided my eye contact and started to shuffle away. I buried my instinct to hurry past her.

Over the last few months, I have met with a variety of different groups of people: friends, students, arts professionals, academics and educationalists and I have found myself arguing against the prevailing mood.  As people of faith, we have to recognise that we are uniquely […]