With our TV screens filled with images of the riots over the summer, asylum seekers staying at an Oxford hotel felt tense as rumors swirled that extremists were about to target the city.

Fires were started at other hotel sites with people trapped inside – could it happen here too?

As the time approached for the threatened protest to take place, fears grew.

Mark Goldring, director of the charity Asylum Welcome, was there.

“The singing started outside the hotel … and there was a real sense of concern at first,” he said.

“And then you realized that… there were messages of support, of encouragement.

“And it was the counter-demonstrators who were chanting that basically Oxfordshire was welcoming these refugees and no harm would come to them.”

This was the story across Oxford, with hundreds of demonstrators turning out at venues across the city in support of refugees and asylum seekers.

The expected anti-immigration protest did not materialize.

So how did Oxford escape the problems seen in other parts of the country?

Despite its leafy academic reputation, Oxford is not immune violence and disorder.

But faith leaders say what’s special about the city is the work that’s been done over decades to build strong relationships and unity.

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Steven Croft, said: “Oxford’s faith leaders in particular now have over 20 years of experience in friendship… and in times of really high tension we have been able to return to those friendships. “

He said that even amid growing global divisions caused by the Israel-Gaza war, interfaith relations remain strong.

“I think they’ve actually come a lot closer following these two crises, which I’m aware is not the case elsewhere in the country.”

Time was also likely to be of the essence in ridding Oxford of violence and disorder.

The riots were initially sparked by online misinformation following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport on July 29.

Asylum Welcome in Oxford appeared on a list circulated online as a possible target.

By that time, the government had already made this clear justice would be swift for offenders – some had already appeared in court by August 7, when the Oxford anti-immigration protest was rumored to have been planned.

Elsewhere, where protests took place that day, counter-demonstrations tended to be larger than the anti-immigration protests.

But Louise Gordon of the Oxford Jewish Congregation says personal connections were also important at the time.

“Our synagogue community immediately contacted the local mosques that we have contact with to say that we felt a great solidarity with them and many people joined the march which was the anti-riot march.

She believes that when you have people working together and volunteering together “that’s where the unity comes from when it’s really grounded and really woven together.”

There are warnings against complacency, though—and with an increase in religious hate crimesthose in the Muslim community say the anxiety felt at the time of the riots continues.

Shaista Aziz is one of the founders of the anti-racism campaign group The Three Hijabis and lives in Oxford.

“It made me feel very sad that I had to think twice about whether I was well and safe enough to leave the house,” she said.

“And it wasn’t just me, the women in my family, who had these discussions.

“And we continue to have these discussions, because we’re aware that even though we live in a relatively safe city … when something happens nationally, it affects you — it affects your mental well-being, your sense of safety and your sense of self. of belonging”.

Those who have feared it could be a focal point for unrest also say the root causes of the riots still need to be addressed.

Mr Goldring said: “One of the real challenges has nothing to do with refugees.

“It’s about ordinary long-term British residents struggling to access health services, struggling to access dentists, struggling to afford housing in this environment and of course people using food banks.

“So that sense of exclusion and underlying poverty is not about refugees.”

The government said it was taking a number of measures to prevent further unrest – including putting “thousands of neighborhood police officers and PCSOs on the streets” and reviewing counter-extremism strategies.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “There is a lot to debate on all sorts of policy issues – but no one should make excuses for violence or judgment that puts public safety at risk.

“This was unspeakable criminality, committed in many cases by those with existing criminal convictions.”