A NEW branch of Ireland’s Sanctuary Runners group is set to launch in Brighton this weekend. The initiative, founded in Cork in 2018, uses running, jogging and walking to bring together asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants with local residents to promote “solidarity-through-sports”. Founded by former Irish Post sports editor Graham Clifford, the initiative has experienced huge success with 40 groups now in place across Ireland and more than 15,000 participants.
This Saturday, July 6 it will launch its first full UK branch in Brighton, in east Sussex, after hosting a one-off event in west London in 2021. The group will work with the Brighton Table Tennis Club, which has been using sport to break down barriers between communities in Brighton for many years, according to Clifford, who is the founder and Head of International Development with Sanctuary Runners. “Brighton, as we know, has such a strong reputation, both in the UK and internationally, as being a leader to welcoming all regardless of ethnicity, legal status, religion, culture or sexual orientation,” he said this week.
“It is a city for all and when we were contacted by Tim Holtam, founding Director of the wonderful Brighton Table Tennis Club, asking if we’d be interested in starting a group here we jumped at the opportunity.” He added: “Our organisation works to bring people together, to celebrate each other as equals in solidarity and help build strong socially cohesive communities.” Holta.
