A peaceful, non-confrontational gathering will take place in Gloucester this Sunday (5 October), organised by the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network – an alliance of more than a dozen local organisations and residents – to show support for people seeking asylum and to challenge attempts to spread division and racism.
Participants will assemble at Westgate Car Park between 12:00 and 12:30 pm before holding a community counter-protest expected to last several hours. The event will include music, singing, speeches, shared food, and colourful placards and flags. Organisers emphasise that the focus is not only on rejecting division but also on celebrating welcome, compassion, and respect across communities.
They warn that nationalist groups are deliberately scapegoating asylum seekers on social media, using fear to distract from the real causes of the cost-of-living crisis.
Cllr Chloe Turner, county councillor for Minchinhampton and leader of Stroud District Council, said: “Political choices have created deep inequality – the richest fifty families have accumulated more wealth than half the population combined – while people in Gloucestershire face soaring bills, poor housing, and public services under strain. None of this is the fault of migrants, least of all the vanishingly small proportion seeking asylum. This division is making many who already live here feel unwelcome. We can love where we come from without turning national pride into hate.”
According to the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network, at the end of September last year 2,395 refugees and asylum seekers were living in the county – just 0.36% of the population.
Freddie Janke, speaking for the network, said: “These people deserve respect. The idea that they are responsible for all our problems when they make up such a tiny proportion of the population is prejudice and scapegoating. It is wrong and racist to suggest all people seeking asylum are a threat to women and girls. Violence and child abuse are frighteningly common, and survivors deserve support – whatever their background. With domestic abuse refuge funding cut by a quarter since 2010, outrage only when perpetrators are from a certain background spreads prejudice and undermines women’s and children’s safety. We refuse to be divided – the answers lie in solidarity and real solutions.”
Organisers point to recent polling that underscores their message. The UK’s largest opinion survey, the Giga Poll, found that 80% of people enjoy mixing with those from different backgrounds. It also revealed that the cost of living is the public’s top concern (56%), while immigration ranks only fourth at around 25%.
The organisers stress the event will be peaceful, friendly, and inclusive, bringing people together from all backgrounds to affirm Gloucestershire as a community of compassion and solidarity.
