06.03.2018
Wicklow Syria Appeal Preparing to Welcome a Syrian Refugee Family Into Their Community
Members of Wicklow Parish are involved in a cross community project which will bring a Syrian Refugee Family from Homs to live in Wicklow town. Wicklow Syria Appeal is a volunteer group set up in 2016 to support those affected by conflict in Syria. They have been working towards bringing a Syrian family to their town under the Refugee Family Reunification Programme.
The Al Sulaiman family will be coming to live in Wicklow town in the next few months. The family of nine escaped Homs in 2013 and is currently living in Lebanon. They are really looking forward to rebuilding their lives in Ireland. One member of their family came to Ireland two years ago under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.
This the first community sponsored refugee integration project in Ireland. With the announcement in February 2018 that the Irish Government is planning to support community sponsorship projects they hope there will be many more similar projects.
Wicklow Town was twinned with Syria in 2003 for the Special Olympics and the connection with Syria grew from there. In January 2016 Dermot Costello, who had been Chair of the Wicklow Special Olympics committee in 2003, founded Wicklow Syria Appeal. The group of volunteers is drawn from across the Wicklow business, education and religious communities. They came together to enable the Wicklow community to make a positive difference to the lives of those affected by war in Syria though community action, education and fundraising.
Throughout 2016 and 2017 Wicklow Syria Appeal ran education programmes in local schools, supported Transition Year projects and fundraised to support NGO organisations working in Syria. In 2017 Wicklow Syria Appeal volunteers decided to focus on what the Wicklow community could do to help the Syrian refugees coming to Ireland. They partnered with Nasc, the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre, to develop an exciting and unique community project to bring a Syrian Refugee Family to live in Wicklow in 2018 under the Refugee Family Reunification Programme.
“It is life affirming to be involved with a wonderful committee of people, with the common purpose of transforming life. Wicklow may be the first community in Ireland to undertake such a project, but we hope we are the first of many,” the Revd Jack Kinkead, Rector of Wicklow and Killiskey commented.
Wicklow Syria Appeal have secured a house for the family and are working with Nasc to organise their safe passage to Ireland in the coming month. They plan to welcome and support the family to integrate and rebuild their lives as part of the Wicklow community. If you would like further information or to help in any way please contact Wicklow Syria Appeal email: info@wicklowsyriaappeal.com or visit www.wicklowsyriaappeal.com
The community in Wicklow has raised over €12,000 locally to refurbish a semi derelict house. Wicklow Syria Appeal have set up a GoFundMe page http://bit.ly/GoFundME to raise a further €5,000 to meet the Al Sulaiman’s immediate living expenses when they arrive.
