PLANS are moving quickly for the Launceston Refugee Support Group who hope to welcome the first Syrian family to the town by the summer.

The group were pleased to have the opportunity at their recent meeting to ‘pick the brains’ of Helen Tworkowski, trustee of West Devon Safe Haven, who has played a key role in the integration of refugee families in Okehampton and Tavistock.

Helen was able to provide the group with information about the difficulties her group experienced whilst welcoming refugee families and suggested ways in which the Launceston group could make the process easier for themselves.

Helen explained how things got started for her group and how quickly not only the refugees but the volunteers had to adapt.

The group’s first family arrived in July 2017 and they will be welcoming their fourth family in a few months’ time.

The group worked with Refugee Support Devon (RSD) and Helen said this meant the volunteers’ roles weren’t very ‘hands-on’ in the beginning.

She said: “To begin with RSD told us not to give out our numbers and any interactions with the refugees had to go through them first.”

She said this was one of the issues the group had to adapt to. They soon set up a ‘Whatsapp’ group so that interactions with the refugees could be carried out in a much more efficient way.

She said: “The problem is, if you for example set up an outing like ‘go to the fireworks’ and something happens, like the time or meeting place needs to change, we were having to contact RSD so they could contact the refugees before they told us it was ok. It was unnecessary.

“This meant we had to change the boundaries, which was a matter of contention in the group. We are still debating this but we have found it works — I am not saying this is how you should do it, but this is what we are doing.”

Roger Creagh-Osborne, vice-chairman of LRSG, asked: “You don’t want to make a distinction between the refugees and those who are also facing hardship in the town. How did you overcome this?”

Helen said one thing the group should consider doing before welcoming its family is to discuss what their own policies will be — how much support is too much and what provisions are available for language education so the refugees can become independent.

She said: “First you need to be clear about what your role is. Many of these families will be part of the benefits system similar to others in Launceston. Look at doing things that others on benefits would do; for example go to Goosey Fair, nothing too extravagant — but have fun trying to explain what Goosey Fair is, context is a difficult thing to get across when there is a language barrier!”

She said it would be beneficial for the group to set up their own ‘code of conduct’ and divide responsibilities.

She said: “With the code of conduct it is amazing how quickly you will fall out of throw with it because we care so much and this can often lead to disputes in the group. However, I think descent in the group is a good thing as you need that tension otherwise the whole thing becomes too insular. But you need those decisions made of who does what.”

Helen said safeguarding is also very important. All volunteers should be DBS checked and her group has been using a closed Facebook group page as a means of communication.

Each member creates a post with brief details of their interactions with the refugees, which enables group members to keep up to date.

Helen said the group does not have to use Facebook but it is one means of communication that has proved useful to her.

Communication was a key point in Helen’s talk. Many refugees have family still living in war zones so access to a phone is often very important to them.

Helen said education is important for their integration and Bill Glen asked how well the younger refugees Helen has worked with have integrated into local schools.

She said in her experience they were all keen to learn English as soon as possible: “I would say the younger they are the easier it is for them but it is hard to say, they seem to be enjoying school — it is certainly very different in Lebanon. There will be a few tears from the children but that is normal.”

She said simple exercises like a ‘walk and talk’ to point out ‘tree’ and ‘path’ were helpful and buying a small Arabic to English dictionary would help the group immensely, but added: “Access to education is something to consider. The refugees may need help working out bus timetables if they have to travel to college etc. We took them the first few times but remember you are there to support them to become independent — they have often come from Syria through the Lebanon to be here so they are probably a lot more street wise than us!”

Helen said building up trust and most importantly having a laugh were key to helping the refugees settle in quickly.

She added that contact with other Syrian families could be beneficial and an Okehampton/Tavistock/Launceston link up was offered to enable families to establish friendships and share tips on how to navigate life in the UK.

Helen was thanked for her informative talk.

The Launceston group is pleased to have been offered a house by a local family for the refugees in the town and is awaiting Cornwall Council approval.

It is thought a family of several generations may be able to make use of the house.

To find out more about the Launceston Refugee Support Group visit the website www.lrsg.org.uk