Tom is the Executive Director of City of Sanctuary Sheffield. His role, which he has occupied since 2019, is to ensure COSS is effectively working towards its vision of a city that is safe and welcoming for all, that there is funding to do this and that staff and volunteers are happy and inspired in their work. He is driven by a desire to build a strong, resilient, and beautiful team that has the skills and energy to fight for justice.

Before starting at COSS, he ran a large and inclusive educational project for refugees and asylum seekers in Lewisham and worked for the Refugee Support Network as a programme coordinator for their educational mentoring scheme. Tom has also previously worked as a Lead Practitioner and Head of Physics in a comprehensive school in North London.

Beth is the SPRING Delivery and Advocacy Manager at City of Sanctuary Sheffield. She works closely with the SPRING partners to ensure that refugees in Sheffield have a clear integration pathway upon a positive asylum decision.  
 
Beth has a PhD in Philosophy and a particular interest in Applied Ethics and Social Justice. Beth has also spent time working with asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland, as well as volunteering in Northern France and Belgium with displaced children and families. In her spare time, Beth likes baking, playing rugby, and going on walks in the Peak District with her dog. 

Jess is the Welcoming Spaces Manager at City of Sanctuary Sheffield. Her role involves working with different groups, partners, staff and volunteers alike, in order to make the Sanctuary and Drop In welcoming spaces for people seeking sanctuary in Sheffield. 

Jess brings a background in adult social care work and humanitarian programme management, previously working with displaced communities in Lebanon, Palestine and Greece. In her free time, she enjoys (attempting) to learn Arabic and spending time in nature.

Ian (also known as Nes) is the Volunteer Coordinator for City of Sanctuary Sheffield and manages over 100 active volunteers at any one time across nine teams. He has responsibility for building and maintaining those teams, offering training and personal support to individuals, and ensuring people with lived experience of seeking sanctuary remain central to guiding the work, contributing to teams, and growing personally.  
 
Before working at COSS, Ian co-founded and co-directed Open Kitchen Social Club, a food justice charity in Sheffield with a focus on supporting people seeking sanctuary, who work closely alongside COSS, where they serve a free meal every Tuesday. Ian worked for Open Kitchen for 10 years. He is also a freelance socially engaged artist, broadcaster and filmmaker, a keen walker and cyclist, and occasional DJ!  

Angela is the Finance Officer for City of Sanctuary Sheffield, and she looks after all financial matters. Before joining the team in May 2023, Angela was a Trustee of COSS from July 2017 to April 2023.   
 
Angela has worked as a charity finance specialist since 2015. First, as Finance Manager for Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind, and then for Nomad Opening Doors. Before that she was a Secondary school teacher for 16 years. Since May 2019, Angela is also an elected Councillor at Sheffield City Council, where she is the Group Leader of the Green Party Councillors. 

Melinda is the Advocacy and System Change Coordinator at City of Sanctuary Sheffield.

Her role is to lead and shape our work to transform the asylum system at local, regional and national levels. She builds city-wide and national coalitions, drawing on our grassroots work and position to drive advocacy, campaigning and lobbying for a more humane and dignified asylum system. She is passionate about bringing people together to create meaningful change.

Melinda is a human rights specialist, peace activist from Spain and part of the gypsy roma community. She obtained her Licentiate in Law in Spain and her LLM Degree Applied to Human Rights in the UK. Before coming to the UK, she worked as a lawyer and human rights defender for more than 10 years with victims of serious crimes, migrants, homeless people, refugees and children’s victims of Human trafficking and modern slavery in Nicaragua, Mexico, Mozambique, and Spain 
In her spare time, she loves playing the guitar, gardening and travelling.

Lily is the Multi-Agency Drop-In Manager at City of Sanctuary Sheffield. Her role includes facilitating and developing the weekly drop-in service held at Victoria Hall to create a safe, welcoming, and accessible space.  

Lily is also a child-protection social worker specialising in migration, FGM and ‘honour’-based abuse. Prior to qualifying in Sheffield, she worked in northern France with those waiting to cross to the UK. For several years, Lily lived in Tokyo, initially teaching and then working as a Freelance writer. She occasionally manages to return to her home of North Wales to visit friends and spend time back in nature. 

In her spare time, Lily reads, tours charity-shops, meets friends, travels and hangs out with her cat.

Michele, currently our longest-standing member of staff, is our Administrator, supporting staff with admin tasks, particularly around volunteer recruitment. She updates our various databases and monitors three of our email accounts.  

Having studied languages, working in the world of export seemed a natural progression, so Michele started her admin career in the private sector working as an export administrator for a local silversmith and later for an engineering company. She has subsequently worked in the voluntary sector as an admin and finance officer for a mediation organisation, where she also trained and volunteered as a community mediator, before joining COSS.  

While Michele has always enjoyed her admin work, she feels, however, that she missed her real vocation in life as a professional cricketer!

Ibtissam is the Experts by Experience Team (EbE) Coordinator at City of Sanctuary Sheffield. Her role includes facilitating the EbE team; ensuring that it is successfully established, is sustainable and becomes an integral part of the COSS. 
 
Ibtissam is a community development specialist, educator, and peace activist. She volunteers in many charity projects and is one of the cofounders and the Director of DEWA project. She obtained her MA and PhD degrees from the School of Education, The University of Sheffield. She has been a member of the Advisory Group for Live Project (Smart Urban Future), School of Architecture, The University of Sheffield and is a trustee of South Yorkshire Refugee Law and Justice. Dr Ibtissam has extensive experience in policy and practice, building knowledge and capacity in community groups and sectors. 

Before coming to the UK, Ibtissam worked in Yemen in senior positions for the Government and UNDP, for the World Bank, and as a professional trainer in CARE’s women’s economic empowerment programme, Care International-Yemen. 

In her spare time Ibtissam loves to travel, take photographs and write her diary.

Joe is the Communications and Fundraising Officer at City of Sanctuary Sheffield. He works to develop and deliver communications that grow support for the sanctuary movement, champion the rights of people seeking asylum, and strengthen the work of CoSS. He brings experience in journalism, strategic communications, and refugee support, and is passionate about creating opportunities for people rebuilding their lives in the UK.

Before joining CoSS, Joe worked as a freelance press and communications consultant in Brazil, where he led fundraising and awareness campaigns for local and regional organisations focused on education, mental health, and social inclusion. He previously spent over a decade as a journalist in London and São Paulo, holding senior editorial roles covering the legal and financial sectors. Alongside his professional work, Joe has volunteered extensively as an employability mentor and English language teacher, supporting people seeking asylum and students from underrepresented backgrounds in the UK and Brazil.

Teklay is the SPRING Refugee Support Worker at City of Sanctuary Sheffield. He plays an active role in supporting newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers through the multi-agency drop-in sessions, and by providing language interpretation in Tigrigna and Amharic. He also ran weekly IT Drop-In classes to support digital inclusion for refugees and vulnerable communities. 
 
Teklay is passionate about using his skills in education and technology to support social justice, integration, and empowerment. He has contributed to several grassroots initiatives in Sheffield aimed at improving access to services, building digital confidence, and supporting inclusion for displaced communities. 

In his spare time, Teklay enjoys playing football and hiking. 

Diallo is the Drop-In Front of House Support and Security at City of Sanctuary Sheffield.

Diallo is a chef and entrepreneur by profession.  The company he works with operates in 17 countries around the world, which allows him to work with many people from different backgrounds. Diallo loves helping others.

Diallo has also worked in the Security Industry Authority for over ten years, and has been working as a volunteer for Assist and CoSS for over eight years.  This work gives him joy because helping people is his passion.