Partnerships

We know that we must work in partnership and listen to the voice of lived experience to create meaningful change.

We need to devise strategies, be committed to realising our aims, and produce policy statements that we can work towards, and be held accountable to.

In addition to the partnerships below, we also work in collaboration with our public sector, third sector, and private sector colleagues to deliver projects that meet our goals.

We run several working groups made up of statutory/voluntary sector and community members to plan and advise on projects.

West Midlands Strategic Migration Partnership

Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs) are local authority-led partnerships that provide structures and forums of engagement for effectively dealing with migration at a local, regional and national level.

SMPs work to meet the needs of National and Local Governments, and local communities.

Read more about the work of the WMSMP

Birmingham Migration Forum

We facilitate and chair a regular forum to share learning and develop partnership working across a network of over 200 people from across the statutory, voluntary and community sectors.

City of Sanctuary

We work closely with the Birmingham branch of the volunteer-led City of Sanctuary movement and regularly attend their monthly board meetings.

We’re working with the committee to identify gaps in provision, raise awareness, and highlight positive stories in the city.

City of Sanctuary Partnership Board

Members are the main strategic voices working with asylum seekers, refugees, and EU migrants in Birmingham, as well as of organisations/individuals representing the diversity of migrant experience in Birmingham.

This includes representatives of the council’s commissioned providers, statutory agencies, and voluntary sector organisations and groups.

The group meets on a quarterly basis and their aims are guided by the vision, outcomes, and commitments in Birmingham City Council’s City of Sanctuary Policy Statement. For more information contact:

City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network

We are on the steering group of this network.

The aims of the network are to:

• support the development of a network of local authorities that are working towards the City of Sanctuary vision, and
• to promote the embedding of a culture and practice of welcome in Local Authorities to support the City of Sanctuary theory of change.

Libraries of Sanctuary

We work with The Library of Birmingham and community libraries to ensure they are practising places of sanctuary.

We are supporting the Library of Birmingham and Stirchley Library to achieve City of Sanctuary accreditation.

Visit our Library web pages