Refugee Week (17 to 23 June 2024) is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.
The theme this year was ‘Our Home’. Home can be a lot of different things for different people – it can be a place, a person or a community. It can even be found in smells, tastes or sounds.
Celebrating refugee resettlement milestones and pledges
On Friday 21 June, the council, local community groups and refugees that have resettled in Cambridge came together to celebrate the number of people that have been welcomed to Cambridge and are now part of our community.
The Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Baiju Thittala, opened the event and families shared their experience with facing forced displacement. There was a light lunch, bringing a taste of home for some refugees, and live Middle Eastern music.
Cambridge City council is committed to supporting refugee families to establish new lives in and around Cambridge where they can feel safe, welcome and at home. Part of the work we deliver is done by working closely with local community groups and voluntary organisations.
Cambridge is a City of Sanctuary – a UK wide network of people and organisations which seek to support people seeking sanctuary after being forced to leave their homes.
2024 concert: Voices of Hope and Compassion
This weekend there will be a concert organised by Helen Weinstein, and hosted by Michael Rosen, alongside choirs, poets, musicians, drama and dance groups who have been involved in the community education and arts programme.
The free event will take place on Sunday 30 June 2024 from 4pm to 5.30pm (arrive by 3.45pm to be seated for 4pm) at the Corn Exchange (Wheeler Street, CB2 3P).
Everyone is welcome, but please note that children under the age of nine should only attend at the discretion of adults in their family who can follow-up and guide them through discussion of the issues they will hear and learn about during the event.
Community education and arts programme
In 2023, the council commissioned HistoryWorks to work with local schools, community groups and poets.
In the past year, over 5,000 young people have been involved in school workshops and special assemblies. The compositions created reflect on what happens when individuals, families and communities are driven out of their homes because of war or climate catastrophe, persecution or threat of genocide.
They also consider the continuing difficulties survivors and refugees face as they try to build new homes and recover from the trauma of their experiences.
Helping families to settle in Cambridge
The council employs seven Family Support Workers. Across the team there are Arabic, Dari, Farsi, and Ukrainian speakers that offer invaluable support to refugee families to help them as they settle in their new home.
The team assists them with accessing English lessons, applying for employment and benefits, and accessing health and wellbeing services. As well as this they also support them to connect with the local community, live independent lives and help to get children into education.
The team also support refugees in South Cambridgeshire and asylum seekers who have recently been granted refugee status.
Over the past nine years, the council has worked alongside voluntary and community groups to forge strong relationships with refugee families, assisting them in establishing new lives in and around Cambridge.
In 2015, the council was among the first authorities in the East of England to respond to the government's call for assistance to deliver the Home Office Refugee Resettlement Scheme. The scheme supports the resettlement of mainly Syrian refugees across the UK, fleeing from the devastations of war in Syria, Iraq, and Sudan.
Following the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan in 2021, the council has also supported the resettlement of refugees in Cambridge under the Home Office schemes. The scheme prioritised those who had assisted the UK efforts in Afghanistan and vulnerable people, including women and girls, and members of minority groups, such as ethnic and religious minorities and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2020, Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council committed to settling 200 more refugees. In 2021 we said we would provide four council houses each year for the next five years to help reach that target.
Through the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, Cambridge residents have offered spare rooms or empty homes to people arriving from Ukraine. Since 2022, Cambridge has welcomed over 550 refugees under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and we are now preparing our services for the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme launching in 2025.
Our role in this scheme is to support refugees to feel welcome and get to know Cambridge. We offer practical support to refugees and their hosts and conduct accommodation and safeguarding checks and administer financial support.
Supporting refugees into employment
The council has partnered up with Beam to support refugees into employment. The aim is to harness the skills and knowledge the individuals already hold by providing the opportunities and resources to access employment.
Beam looks to work with local businesses to identify skill gaps and match those job opportunities to people who have the skills needed to fill those positions. Any businesses interested in participating in the initiative can email hello@beam.org for further details.
The partnership began in September of 2023 and 23 people have received support in designing an action plan to achieve their personal goals and job aspirations, with their dedicated caseworker. Nine people have been placed in secure job roles where they have been contracted to work six months or longer.
The council also works closely with Reed and the Strategic Migration Partnership on employment programmes for refugees.
Together, we stand stronger in our resolve to stand in solidarity with refugees, provide sanctuary and support to those in need. There are a number of ways you can contribute to making Cambridge a safe and welcoming place for refugees – you can donate to local groups and charities, volunteer your time, stand up to hate crimes or even exhibit simple acts of kindness that will brighten up someone’s day.
