Refugee centre marks five years in town with event

The Refugee and Migrant Centre (RMC) marked five years of serving the community in Walsall with an event at its offices on Bridge Street on Friday.

There was the opportunity to hear directly from those who have made Walsall their home and built a new life.

Khaled Al Hussein, who arrived as part of the Syrian Resettlement project in 2017 and is now working for RMC as a resettlement caseworker, spoke about his experiences of moving to Walsall and rebuilding his life.

He said: "RMC helped me to adapt and understand life in the uk when I arrived in Walsall and I wanted to give back to the community who supported me and started by volunteering.

"I am now proud to be an employee of RMC working with Afghan refugees.

"I know the challenging journey that people go through and hope to support and inspire others as they settle here."

Pam Gill, RMC’s Deputy CEO, spoke of the organisation’s journey in Walsall, beginning with support of newly arrived Syrian families, then expanding to meet the evident community need through providing free, accredited immigration advice to all new arrivals.

Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes said the country was made up of many communities and was a better place for it and praised RMC for its work with people coming into the borough.

He said: "Walsall provides a warm welcome through the resettlement programmes with the Syrians, Afghans and, soon, it will be the Ukrainians, so we need specialists like RMC to support this integration work.

"The buzz at RMC’s event was infectious and I was delighted to learn more and believe RMC’s energy will lead to very positive outcomes for people now and in the future."

Councillor Adrian Andrew, deputy leader of the council, voiced his vision for Walsall, saying he wanted people to feel welcome, safe and at home across the borough.

He said: "Walsall used to be called a place of a thousand trades, but is now a place of a thousand communities.

"We will do what we can to connect communities."