Plymouth's long and proud history of accepting and settling refugees and asylum seekers is set to continue with the commissioning of a Resettlement Support Service.
Formally known as the Refugee Integration and Support Service, this service will provide help and support with access to housing, improved English language skills, increased self-sufficiency via employment and community integration.
It will also contribute towards improved community cohesion within Plymouth and support other organisations to become more culturally aware.
While the service has been ongoing for some time, the previous contract is coming to an end and a business case setting out over £4 million of investment of Home Office funding through a new, nine year period will go before the Cabinet next week.
Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet Member for Housing, Cooperative Development and Communities, said: "Plymouth is a welcoming city; it is a compassionate city, so it gives me great pleasure to ensure that we are providing essential services for some of society’s most vulnerable people.
"These people have lost everything and many come here with no more than the clothes on their back.
“We want to make sure that Plymouth becomes a place they call home, a place where they can live happy and fulfilling lives while at the same time enriching our already a vibrant, multicultural city.”
Plymouth has participated in several Home Office managed resettlement schemes enabling a safe passage for many of the most vulnerable people fleeing conflict and persecution.
These include the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Scheme (SVPRS), Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS), Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy, (ARAP) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and Homes for Ukraine (H4U).
This service will support all of these communities to resettle, regardless of means of arrival into the city.
Many refugees choose to remain in Plymouth and over the past 20 years a burgeoning and vibrant community comprising of many different nationalities has developed. More information on the Council’s work with refugees can be found here