Nidderdale Community Welcome is urgently seeking a house to rent in or close to Pateley Bridge to home a refugee family.
The community group has already raised more than £12,000 to help a refugee family from Syria or Afghanistan, to start a new life in the UK.
Peter Wright, NCW’s housing lead, told the Stray Ferret:
“We need a two, three or four-bedroom property with a garden, on a bus route in Nidderdale, ideally near Pateley Bridge.
“The property needs to be available to the family for a minimum of two years, but the arrangement could easily extend for much longer.
“This offers certainty for landlords and avoids the cost and disruption of changing tenants regularly.”
Nidderdale Community Welcome is taking part in a scheme originally set-up by former Prime Minister David Cameron to welcome 20,000 Syrian refugees to the UK.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in the summer, an increased number of refugees from that country have also been offered the opportunity to come to the UK.
The Home Office and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will choose a family based on the number of bedrooms in the house that is secured for rental by NCW.
As part of their resettlement package, the family is entitled to housing benefit and can pay monthly rental ranging from £663 for a two-bedroom house to £1,067 for a four-bedroom property.
Mr Wright said:
“We can provide the bond and one month’s rent in advance, if required. If we find the right home before the family arrives and is able to move in, we could potentially provide a short period of 100% rental bridging to hold the property for them.
“Our charity will provide long-term support for the family and will act as the first point of contact between them and the landlord, to ensure that all communications are well-managed.”
Landlords able to help NCW in its search for a rental property, are asked to contact Mr Wright, via email on wrightpandh@gmail.com
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Bid to resettle refugees in Nidderdale takes major step forward
Attempts to resettle a refugee family in the Pateley Bridge area have taken a significant step forward.
Nidderdale Community Welcome, a community group set up to sponsor a refugee family in Nidderdale, has found a house and raised more than £12,000.
Peter Wright, who heads the organisation, said:
“We can expect a refugee family to be selected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and for the family to be with us in about four months time.”
With funding and housing in place, the application to bring the family to the Dales now needs Home Office approval, which should be a formality.
In preparation for the resettlement, Nidderdale Community Welcome is to hold a meeting at Pateley Bridge Methodist Church between 7pm and 9pm on Tuesday next week. For further details email wrightpandh@gmail.com
The search for a house in the Pateley Bridge area for a refugee family has been successful.
Mr Wright said:
“We are now moving from the planning to the implementation stage and need to put together small teams to assist the family with benefits, schooling, language, etc.
“The meeting will allow people to hear what is involved and to help us by signing on to one or more of the teams.”
The steering group is also looking at the possibility of establishing a community investment scheme to purchase a house for the longer term of this project.
People able to invest between £5,000 and £40,000 in a fixed-term scheme with an anticipated return of two percent per annum would have a proportionate share in the capital of the house.
John Tarrant, treasurer of Nidderdale Community Welcome, can be contacted at johntarrant@leakhb.plus.com for further information.
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Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the refugee focus has switched from those displaced by war in Syria to Afghan nationals fleeing their country.
While Nidderdale Community Welcome, which was set up in November, plans for its first refugee family, Ripon City of Sanctuary has already resettled a number of Syrian families and is ready for another.
The group, established in 2016, has been fundraising since April, in anticipation of bringing another Syrian family to the city.
It has raised 85 per cent of the money needed and a has identified a suitable house.
Nicola David, chair of the Ripon group, said:
North Yorkshire to rehome eight Afghan families“We have been trying to build a little Syrian community here.
“Some Afghan interpreter families are currently being assisted to resettle in the UK, and a very small number have arrived in the Harrogate district.”
Eight Afghan families are to be rehomed in North Yorkshire as part of a government resettlement scheme.
Earlier this year, ministers said thousands of Afghans who worked for the British army, mostly interpreters, will be offered resettlement in the UK as the armed forces withdraw from the country.
The move comes as the withdrawal of Britain and United States has been criticised after Taliban forces rapidly took control of Afghanistan this past week.
Now, county council officials said North Yorkshire will open its doors to those fleeing the country from persecution.
Neil Irving, assistant director for policy, partnerships and communities at North Yorkshire County Council, said:
“Following the announcement that NATO military forces would withdraw from Afghanistan, the UK government saw a need to accelerate relocations under the scheme.
“So far the councils in North Yorkshirehave agreed to resettle about eight families. The people we are welcoming to North Yorkshire have shown great courage in supporting British troops in the face of high personal risk. With the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, they now face increased threats to their lives, so it is right for us to honour their service by offering them our protection.
“Thanks to thorough preparation by the organisations involved, we are confident that their settlement and integration will be safe and as smooth as possible.”
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Nationally, more than 3,000 Afghans are expected to be allowed to settle in the UK, joining 1,300 who have already done so.
In June, senior Harrogate borough councillors agreed to offer resettlement to 19 Afghans, which amounts to four families, under the same scheme.
The Harrogate district has previously taken part in other resettlement programmes, including welcoming 13 Syrian families between 2016 and 2017.
Cllr Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at the council, said the families are not only offered a place to live, but also given opportunities to go to school, learn English and find employment.
He added that the authority would be prepared to resettle more families if it was required to do so.
Meanwhile, the government has also committed to resettling 20,000 Afghan refugees in the UK after thousands have tried to flee the country.