An investigation by journalist Charlotte Gill has exposed how primary school pupils are creating Valentine’s Day greetings for migrants as part of a nationwide sanctuary movement.
Speaking on GB News, Ms Gill revealed her findings about City of Sanctuary UK, an umbrella group she claims is attempting to transform Britain into a network of sanctuary spaces. “They have been trying to do what the Democrats did in the US which is to turn the UK into a place of sanctuary,” she explained.
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The organisation’s reach extends across educational institutions, with designated sanctuary status for cities, universities, schools and nurseries. During her investigation, Ms Gill discovered numerous examples of young pupils crafting Valentine’s messages for asylum seekers.
“Tiny children writing Valentine’s cards,” she told GB News, highlighting one particularly striking detail. “You will see in the corner it says ‘welcome to the stranger’, children are normally told, ‘don’t talk to strangers’, but this scheme is the complete opposite.”
Charlotte Gill’s revelations left Matt Goodwin astonished
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The initiative involves pupils aged five and upwards participating in card-making activities organised through the Schools of Sanctuary network, which encompasses over 1,200 educational establishments including primary schools, secondary schools, nurseries and sixth forms.
Pupils were instructed to craft handwritten messages expressing “love and solidarity” on 14 February, with suggested slogans such as “You’re welcome here!” and “I love refugee rights, stop the Rwanda scheme”. One greeting featured a verse stating: “Roses are red, violets are blue, refugees are people, just like me and you”.
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The programme encouraged classroom discussions about the treatment of sanctuary seekers, aiming to instil “values like kindness, humanity and equality”. Students were also prompted to organise fundraising for local charities and create “displays of kindness” throughout their schools.
The cards frequently incorporated an orange heart emblem, symbolising compassion for those escaping conflict, drawing inspiration from the refugee nation flag as promoted by Together With Refugees.
Charlotte Gill joined Matt Goodwin on GB News
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Ms Gill’s investigation uncovered substantial public funding flowing to organisations advocating unrestricted immigration policies. During her GB News appearance, she highlighted the charity sector as particularly problematic.
“Taxpayer funding going towards what I would deem open border ideology,” she stated, citing the Paul Hamlyn Foundation as a prime example. The foundation received £1.4 million in government funding from 2020 to 2023, despite its explicit support for open borders policies.
“It has a migration fund. It has gone to organisations like Hope Not Hate,” Ms Gill explained. When presenter Matt Goodwin questioned whether British taxpayers were effectively subsidising groups that label them racist for opposing open borders, she confirmed: “Absolutely.”
She contrasted the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about tackling people smugglers with the reality of public money supporting contrary objectives. “Keir Starmer goes on about smash the gangs, but it’s more like smash the charities,” she remarked, describing “a whole industrial complex fuelling the opposite of what taxpayers say they want.”
The card welcomes ‘the stranger’
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Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp condemned the programme, alleging that Labour had transformed schools into “propaganda hubs” and exploited pupils for political purposes. “Classrooms should be for teaching maths, not immigration,” he stated, specifically criticising Labour-controlled Birmingham City Council for permitting “political campaigning to creep into our schools.”
Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott echoed these concerns, asserting that “children as young as five shouldn’t be used to push political agendas.”
Birmingham City Council defended its position, noting that School of Sanctuary operates as an independent national programme to which schools apply voluntarily. “In a diverse, welcoming and inclusive city like Birmingham, it comes as no surprise that several schools across the city have signed up independently to be schools of sanctuary,” a council spokesperson said.
Schools of Sanctuary representatives maintained that the welcome card activity involved pupils writing anonymous messages to individuals seeking safety in their communities, emphasising that teachers follow “rigorous safeguarding approaches” and describing the initiative as “simple acts of compassion” that “should be celebrated rather than criticised.”
