Posted on: 12th February 2026

It’s voted Labour for decades - until the first Green councillor got voted in in 2024. But when the Home Office announced that they were planning to locate 247 men seeking asylum in an erstwhile student block on Shire Oak Road in Headingley, this progressive Ward began to reveal some other political hues. I declare an interest, if it goes ahead, it will happen almost directly opposite our flat.

Letters have been written, meetings have been called, voices have been raised, fears have floated to the surface and misinformation has circulated on social media.

So I ask the question, how does the local church respond to the all-of-a-sudden presence of 247 men: most of whom are traumatised, don’t speak the language, have had all agency taken from them and haven’t seen their loved ones in months or years?

Fifty of us gathered together, drawn from several local churches in Headingley and Hyde Park, to hear the experience of Rev Ashley Hardingham whose Baptist church in Altringham has been in this situation for the last three years with two asylum hostels in close proximity to his church. It was inspiring to hear how churches can extend grace and Christlike friendship to those in dire need.

Nevertheless, I very much doubt that all of you, dear readers, are of one mind on this. There is a spectrum of opinion in the church which very much reflects the broader society.

I believe that the way we treat refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK is disgraceful. Scripture instructs us to treat the foreigner as one of our own. But it is easy to preach that from the pulpit – it becomes a different proposition when confronted with the reality of the “other” on our doorstep.

Yet, the bible is clear, we are all made in the image of God and we all live by receiving the breath of God.

Deuteronomy 10:18 is typical of a frequently repeated biblical mantra, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” 

Ezekiel goes further, granting a birthright to foreigners, “In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel 47:23).

And when St Paul, wrote to the Galatians hundreds of years later, he broadened the acceptance of the “other” in chapter 3 verse 28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are … heirs according to the promise.”

While there are justified fears and genuine risks, my appeal is for us, a people who have been welcomed into God’s family and given the inheritance of grace, to extend that welcome and grace to asylum seekers and refugees (and maybe some protesters) on our street. 

May we be a non-anxious presence, the people of peace amidst the fear and uncertainty. And in doing so may we demonstrate the Kingdom of God to our neighbours and the politicians who represent us.

Jon Beech at LASSN has provided a helpful list of resources for refugees and asylum seekers:
Groups and activities for Asylum Seekers in Leeds - Google Docs

See Leeds City of Sanctuary for further info as well