IT WAS a simple message: “I have made Oxford my home.”

But that was typical of comments pinned up in Town Hall yesterday as people gathered to celebrate the vital contribution immigrants make to city life.

Other people wrote down why they came here – ‘my husband is British’, ‘studies, then work, then life!’ – while another said: “It is an open and diverse city, where people from all over the world live happily and in harmony.”

The event was organised by Oxford City Council as part of the national ‘One Day Without Us’ campaign, which aims to raise awareness about immigration.

One in four people in Oxford were born in a foreign country and Lord Mayor Mohammed Altaf Khan told visitors to the event yesterday: “They are people we all know – friends, neighbours and work colleagues and we should celebrate the fact they are part of our society. Oxford has long been a destination for international migrants and that is something the city council is very proud of.”

Mr Altaf-Khan, who was born in Kashmir, South Asia, spoken about how he had come to the city more than 20 years ago and started working for Royal Mail.

“It is a place where anyone can come and succeed,” he said.

To highlight the number of different languages spoken in the city, several people spoke at Town Hall in their native tongues.

There was also a ‘pop up’ photo booth ran by freelance photographer Fran Monks, who took portrait pictures of immigrants who came along.

Summertown resident Prof Patricia Daley, who works in Oxford University’s geography department, said she had come to ‘show solidarity’ with other people from foreign countries living in the UK.

The 59-year-old, whose parents came to London from Jamaica, said: “Since the Brexit vote there has been a lot of racism. But I am a proud citizen of Oxford and I think it’s important to highlight the positive contribution to society immigrants make.”

And Geraldine Coggins, 64, who moved to the UK from Ireland, said: “More than a third of NHS staff are immigrants – but people do not think of that when they say there are too many here.”

Ms Monks said: “I want to portray a face of immigration you do not normally see in the press.”