Hello 123,738 of you, 

I just wanted to write to you to say - thank you for your support. And as the new year begins, take a moment to step back and reflect on where we are with the campaign’s progress - the impact we’ve made together so far - and what next.

This campaign began 6 months ago, and whilst we’ve not yet been able to have the cartoon murals restored, you have taken action that demonstrates that the UK public won’t stand for cruel actions taken against the most vulnerable in society. That our communities commit to being compassionate and kind. 

Whether you signed this petition, shared a post on IG, drew welcome art, wrote a letter to the media, signed up to send a postcard hosted a workshop, or commented on a petition update, it has all made a difference. These actions demonstrate compassion that should inspire our leaders to do better – and show solidarity with refugees.

2024 will be critical for our campaign - and we need your support! There is a new minister Michael Tomlinson - and an election around the corner where we can seek commitments on this issue. Whilst we up the pressure to restore the cartoons, we will continue to take action in our communities to keep finding ways to be kind, compassionate and send messages of welcome.

To help us ahead of ramping up, please continue to share the petition page, and IG channel. Thank you again for your support, and thank you to the organisations who partnered with us too. 

—

Here are some highlights over the past year: 

Petition Action 

Since the campaign launched:

• 123,738 of you joined our movement by signing this petition.
  2000+ of you wrote comments to the Immigration Minister on why the cartoons should be restored.

Kent Action 
Over 150 artists in Kent took a stand and launched a powerful Open Letter. 

“This does not reflect the values of compassion and kindness that run deep in Kent’s community. That’s why whilst we are appalled, we are writing to tell you that we are here on standby to help set things right.”

Draw Action

• Inspired by City of Sanctuary, UK schools who drew cartoons in defiance, we launched a national draw movement.
• Along with calling for the cartoons to be restored we’ve been on a mission to create welcome art in solidarity.

Postcard Action

Working with FindOthers and the Refugee Council, we turned some of those drawings into postcards and over 4800 people signed up to send one.

Media Action

We secured media coverage to help up the pressure including: BBC, Guardian, Metro, iNews, Independent, Kent Live, Birmingham Mail, Yahoo News.
Through our local letter action, campaign supporters wrote letters published in Newark Advertiser, Yorkshire post, Henley Standard, Coventry Observer, Manchester Evening News, Darlington and Stockton Times, Lynn News and more.

The campaign was featured in Nish Kumar’s Pod Save The World and the Professional Cartoonists' Organisation's blog

Community Action

You had brilliant ideas to help and took action. This included

• Creative workshops in communities to create art welcoming refugees
• Hosting welcome art in windows
• Creating art for auction to support charity

School Action

In London, Birmingham and Bradford, City of Sanctuary, UK schools took action to support our campaign by drawing welcome messages in playgrounds and creating murals indoors.

Political action

• We published an Open letter to the Immigration Minister.
• We received 2 responses from the Minister’s office.
• The Shadow Immigration Minister responded to our campaign.
• 1 MP meeting to discuss the issue.
• 3 FOIs have been submitted.

Since Robert Jenrick resigned, we will now campaign to the new minister Micheal Tomlinson to take action.

Thank you for your support and to all the wonderful organisations who supported us in 2023. We'd love to know your thoughts and ideas on our campaigning efforts so far. Let's keep going!

PS. I've created this IG post with the campaign highlights - will you share it?