New shoes and laptops following lottery grant
Asylum seekers and refugees have reaped the benefits after a city charity was awarded a grant by two funding bodies.
Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary has been awarded £4,920 by the National Lottery Community Fund and the Barrow Cadbury Trust to help fund a number of projects in the city.
The charity, which offers the culture of hospitality and welcome to asylum seekers and refugees in Wolverhampton, will fund a 12-month internet connection and laptops for six households with children at school.
There is also provision to pay for school shoes and items of uniform for 30 young people attending full-time school and whose parent or guardian is an asylum seeker.
Maggie Marriott, from City of Sanctuary, applied for the grants and said the aim was to help children who were home schooling and did not have access to computers.
She said: “What we wanted to do was get some computers for the children as their families didn’t have them and it was stopping them from learning at home.
Possible
“Funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, in partnership with Barrow Cadbury Trust, has helped us to begin work on the project.
“After getting the funding, we formed a sub-committee to work out what laptops to send them, and we ended up getting five Chromebooks.
“There are also special training videos to show the children how to use the laptops and other information about safety and, for the parents, about limiting the amount of time they spend on the laptop.”
Mrs Marriott said that both the laptop and the shoes project had been well-received by the families the charity has been helping.
She said: “Thanks to National Lottery players for making this possible.”
To find out more about Wolverhampton City of Sanctuary, go to wolverhampton.cityofsanctuary.org
