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04

Jul 2021

Last Updated: 03/07/2021
Community
Community

House and treasure hunt to help refugee family in Nidderdale

by Tim Flanagan

| 04 Jul, 2021
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Nidderdale Community Welcome is on the verge of reaching a £13,000 target that will help to bring a refugee family from a war-torn country to the peaceful countryside.

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The photographers want to focus on those working on the land and how recent events such as covid and Brexit have affected them.

Hopes are high that a refugee family will be safely relocated to Nidderdale by Christmas.

Nidderdale Community Welcome has, through donations and fundraising events, built up a fund of approximately £11,500.

Peter Wright, who is heading the initiative, told the Stray Ferret:

"This is a tremendous effort, when bearing in mind that a lot of our activities have been virtual because of the covid lockdowns."


He added:

"It illustrates that the Nidderdale community is caring, compassionate and willing to help a family in desperate circumstances to re-build their lives here."




The aim is to hit an initial target of £13,000 to provide the financial support that the family will need.

Finding a three-bedroom house in or near Pateley Bridge is the top priority and the search is on for a landlord with a suitable property available to let by the end of the summer.

Mr Wright pointed out:

"If we can secure this, there is every chance that we can have a home ready for the family to move into before Christmas.
"It doesn't have to be in perfect decorative order, because we have a team of volunteers ready to help out."


With lockdown restrictions easing, Nidderdale Community Welcome has been able to organise ever-more ambitious fundraising events.

The latest one is a treasure hunt - called Le Mo-Tour for Refugees, involving a 60-mile tour of the local dales.

It runs between July 10 and August 20 and is open to anybody who wishes to take part in return for a £10 team donation.

Participants must register at nc-welome.org to receive a clue sheet for the hunt.

While the fundraising continues, the formal behind-the-scenes processes involved in progressing the community support programme is ongoing.

To be involved in the Home Office-backed scheme, Nidderdale Community Welcome has to prepare everything that will be needed to support the refugee family.

In obtaining refugee status families have to prove that they were forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence.



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Attaining the status means they are entitled to the same help and welfare as anyone else living in the UK.

Nidderdale Community Welcome is working in partnership with the charity Catholic Care Leeds, which will take ultimate responsibility for the agreement that is being drawn up with the Home Office.