'It's not about charity' - how running is bridging the gap between people in Direct Provision and local communities

The big read: In just two years, running has become a vital tool to unite Irish people with refugees and asylum seekers, writes John Meagher

Great friendships: Gill Fenton and Mduduzi Dube of Sanctuary Runners Limerick. Photo by Justin Farrelly

'A bit of banter': Gavin McHugh and Zimbabwean Nino Dube of Sanctuary Runners. Photo by Kevin Mc Nulty

More than running: Uzma Shaheen and Aileen Linehan in Cork. Photo by Clare Keogh

Founder: Graham Clifford of Sanctuary Runners. Picture by Owen Breslin

thumbnail: Great friendships: Gill Fenton and Mduduzi Dube of Sanctuary Runners Limerick. Photo by Justin Farrelly
thumbnail: 'A bit of banter': Gavin McHugh and Zimbabwean Nino Dube of Sanctuary Runners. Photo by Kevin Mc Nulty
thumbnail: More than running: Uzma Shaheen and Aileen Linehan in Cork. Photo by Clare Keogh
thumbnail: Founder: Graham Clifford of Sanctuary Runners. Picture by Owen Breslin
John Meagher

Uzma Shaheen had been in the Direct Provision centre in Cork city for the best part of four years and she was at her wits' end. There was no sign that her application for asylum would be granted. She was struggling to cope in an environment where there was virtually no privacy. The better life she had envisaged in Ireland after leaving her native Pakistan had not come to pass.

"I was mentally sick," she says. "It was a very painful and stressful life. I hadn't been used to living in this kind of situation. I had a good quality of life when I was younger, but I felt I had to leave."

Shaheen is from the disputed Kashmir area of Pakistan. There are on-going conflicts with neighbouring India and she says life had become intolerable. Europe - and Ireland - offered the promise of a new start, not a limbo situation with no positive end in sight.

And, then, at the beginning of last year, she was invited to join a newly formed group that would illuminate her life. The group was Sanctuary Runners, co-founded by Co Cork-based Kerry journalist Graham Clifford. The idea could hardly have been more simple: Irish people running in solidarity with residents of Direct Provision centres.

'A bit of banter': Gavin McHugh and Zimbabwean Nino Dube of Sanctuary Runners. Photo by Kevin Mc Nulty

"It has changed my life," she says. "I had been very lonely before and now I've got to meet so many good people. Running reminded me of being a girl in school. It was something I hadn't done in a long time but when I heard about this group, I thought, 'Why not?'

"And it is so much more than just running. It's conversation, too. Getting to know people. Now, I have many beautiful and amazing friends thanks to Sanctuary Runners."

One of them is Cork native Aileen Linehan. "In essence," she says. "it's about local people running in solidarity with people in Direct Provision. It's about people running together as one. Just about humanity, you know? And when we meet, we never talk about the 'Big Issues'. It's more, 'How are the kids?'

"I've met some amazingly warm people through Sanctuary Runners. They might have come from very different circumstances in life to us, but they've got the same hopes, fears and aspirations."

Linehan is especially struck by Uzma Shaheen's enthusiasm for what Sanctuary Runners is all about. "Uzma volunteers at Parkrun virtually every Saturday morning," she says. "People say, 'Great to see you again, Uzma'. She knows more people at Parkrun now than I do."

Today after the Ballincollig Parkrun, Cork Sanctuary Runners will meet for a Christmas party.

More than running: Uzma Shaheen and Aileen Linehan in Cork. Photo by Clare Keogh

It's been in the planning for weeks. "There's a lot more that binds us than divides us," Linehan says. "And this is, basically, an end-of-year celebration."

The Christmas celebrations will be mirrored by Sanctuary Runner groups up and down the country.

But 2019 has not been without its difficulties for people in Direct Provision.

Independent TD Noel Grealish was roundly criticised for controversial comments on refugees that he made in the Dáil while a number of far-right figures have made shockingly provocative comments online.

Aileen has little time for hateful fearmongering.

"To those people saying negative things," she says, "have you ever met or spoken to someone in Direct Provision? I say to people in Direct Provision that extremists are in the minority of Irish people.

Founder: Graham Clifford of Sanctuary Runners. Picture by Owen Breslin

"And yet, some Sanctuary Runners say they were afraid to come and meet Irish people because they had seen the comments online. If it was me, I'd be afraid, too. It's all about breaking down the barriers. A lot of the negativity is based on ignorance and fear." It's a sentiment echoed by Graham Clifford.

"We're trying to do something at a certain level and we feel that it's working. It's almost that Michelle Obama thing: We're high. We're not going to get dragged into all that social media stuff. Once you get into that boxing ring, you never get out. We've far too much important work to do to get sidetracked by that nonsense."

Clifford says he has seen how people who may have had reservations about asylum seekers change their minds once they had met people in Direct Provision.

"One particular fella ran with us. He was very conservative about the issue of immigration. He didn't wear the top [the distinctive light blue Sanctuary Runners T-shirt], which is fine - nobody is forced to - but one week he said to me, 'I feel like a fucking eejit. I had a particular view. But look at these guys and it's, he's sound, she's sound. He had completely changed his mind'.

"I would love to get people who are unsure about migration to join us. I don't want it to be an echo chamber. I want them to run with us and see what it's all about."

Sanctuary Runners has grown fast since launching less than two years ago. There are 12 groups nationwide, and Clifford lists several towns throughout the country that are planning to form next year. Last month, it won a prestigious European humanitarian award, the BeInclusive EU Sport Awards.

Its origins came in stories that Clifford - who has written extensively for the Irish Independent and Review - has covered.

"As a freelance journalist, I went to a refugee camp in north-west Africa and I'd travelled on foot with migrants in parts of Europe. And I was at home writing on Direct Provision. And I was asking myself, 'Does my work make a difference?'

"Then, I was running in the John Treacy 10-mile race in Dungarvan and half way through, I thought, 'If you could use running to bring people together - Irish people and people in Direct Provision - wouldn't that be great?

Quickly grew legs

A simple idea, but one that - every pun intended - quickly grew legs. "There's no different style of running - running is all the same, no matter where you're from," Clifford says.

And we want everyone to feel really comfortable. We don't ask the guys why they came to Ireland or why they left home. It's none of our business - that's for them to deal with in their applications.

"It's not about charity and it's very sustainable," he adds. "There are lovely things like shared silences and running with someone - both of you digging deep - and you can hear somebody breathing heavy.

"There's great equality in that, running shoulder-to-shoulder."

Gavin McHugh saw Clifford taking about the power of Sanctuary Runners on television late last year and he was determined to do his part in Longford.

He had just returned to the midlands after 22 years in Dublin, and - as a runner himself - was keen to do his part to stretch out the hand of friendship to the 80 or so residents in the all-male Direct Provision centre in Longford town.

"The first event we did, in August [of this year] we had six or seven [from the centre]. Then we got up to 12, 14 - all wearing the T-shirt. And residents of Longford are part of that group now. It was a slow-burner, though - for a long time it was just myself ploughing the furrow."

Longford's Sanctuary Runners are now a highly visible part of the Saturday morning Parkrun in The Mall - the town park.

"It's the simplest of concepts," McHugh says. "There's no effort involved - just show up and wear the T-shirt. There's a bit of banter and a laugh, and people get to know each other."

After the 5k race is done, everyone sits on park benches and has coffee from flasks.

"That's how we get to know each other," he says. "We'd talk about everything and anything and ask them how their application process is going."

Nino Dube loves those Saturday morning meet-ups. The Zimbabwe man was a keen runner already, and a member of Longford Athletics Club before he became involved with Sanctuary Runners.

"Running kept me going when I was in Direct Provision," he says. "It was tough waiting [to be approved for asylum], but running took my mind off it and the one thing I know about runners is that they are very friendly. I've met many friends through Sanctuary Runners."

Dube is now out of the Direct Provision system and he is working full-time as a technician on a factory production line.

Political instability forced him out of Zimbabwe; now he says he is passionate about making a life for himself in Ireland - and to give back to the community.

"I love Longford," he says. "I know so many people here now."

His fellow Zimbabwean, Mduduzi Dube (no relation), is still waiting for his asylum status to be processed. He is a resident of a Direct Provision centre in Limerick.

Despite living in close proximity to people from all over the world, Dube says he has frequently experienced great bouts of loneliness. "I've been at the centre for two years, four months," he says, "and it can be very challenging."

Sanctuary Runners got him into running - something he hadn't done as a child. But it's offered far more than just an improvement in his physical health. "The running helps me mentally and socially," he says of the twice-weekly meetings.

Incredible support

"I have been injured for the past few months and Sanctuary Runners were able to put me in touch with a physiotherapist who has really helped me. I hope to be back running soon."

The physio sessions are free of charge - just one example of the kindness that has been shown to members of Sanctuary Runners who live in Direct Provision. Graham Clifford points out that most race organisers will waive the entry fee, too. "They've been incredibly supportive," he says.

Next year, more than 1,000 Sanctuary Runners will take part in the Cork City Marathon - roughly an eighth of all those running on the day.

Limerick's Sanctuary Runners was founded by Gill Fenton, who's originally from Co Cork, but has been resident on Shannonside for years. She says great friendships have been fostered since local Irish and Direct Provision residents first started running together.

"One of the girls in Direct Provision will be spending Christmas with the Irish girl that she met through running," she says.

"And there will be others doing the same thing. We're all getting together for Christmas on December 21 - even those people who have fallen off the group are welcome to come."

Kindness

She has been struck by the kindness shown and she has been happy to do her bit, too. "I've had a whole family from the Knockalisheen centre stay in my house for three weeks during the summer. They were calling it their holidays. I'm not saying I'm a wonderful, amazing person - I'm not.

"But there are people out there that want to help."

She has a simple message for those who feel hostility towards asylum seekers. "Everybody, no matter who they are, wants to be loved and respected. I've had a privileged life in that I've been able to travel a lot and you see that everyone, all over the world, is the same.

"And that's what Sanctuary Runners is all about - it's connecting with someone on a human level. It's a tiny thing, but it can mean so much."