Cheltenham will be recognised as a ’Town of Sanctuary’ for refugees

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  • #Cheltenham will be recognised as a ’Town of Sanctuary’ for refugees

    Refugees who were forced out of Syria by the civil war and who arrive in Cheltenham will be helped to integrate with the town.

    Cheltenham Borough councillors unanimously backed a motion this week calling for further support to integrate refugees with local communities through basic language lessons and education opportunities.

    Cheltenham will now be recognised as a ’Town of Sanctuary’ which offers places of safety to people who flee violence.

    In 2015 the borough council pledged to take-in 100 refugee families by 2020 in the wake of the migrant crisis.

    Councillor Peter Jeffries, cabinet member for housing, told the meeting Cheltenham has housed 25 refugees to date.

    Liberal Democrat councillor Max Wilkinson, who tabled the motion, told full council members helping refugees to integrate is “a challenge our country often hasn’t worked hard enough to meet in recent years”.

    Gloucestershire Association of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS) and Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees (CWR) currently work to help refugees integrate into the county.

    A fund has been set up on crowdsourcing website JustGiving to help support a refugee student at the University of Gloucestershire once a year.

    The fund, called The Michael Perham Sanctuary Scholarship, has so far raised more than £1,550.

    https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/cheltenham-recognised-town-sanctuary-refugees-2688791
    #villes-refuge #réfugiés #asile #migrations #solidarité #réfugiés_syriens #UK #Angleterre