Published: Friday 17 September 2021
Today (Friday 17 September 2021), Kensington and Chelsea Council have launched a new service to support refugees from Afghanistan, as they begin arriving in the borough and leaving compulsory coronavirus quarantine.
The Refugee Support Team will be going out to hotels in the borough to provide assistance to approximately 400 people who arrived in the last week.
The boots on the ground approach was signed off by the Council Leader, who will be joining the support teams to see what assistance is required and where the Council and other agencies and providers can help.
Cllr Elizabeth Campbell said:
“On top of offering permanent homes for people, Councils across London are now stepping in to help people straight away on the ground. People need access to things we often take for granted, such as medication, finances, food, and educational services.
“We are stepping up our response this week as we face a challenging situation with so many individuals and households arriving in the capital at the same time.
“Our officers have been working around the clock to support the brilliant work already done by so many other agencies and voluntary organisations in recent weeks.”
The Council has launched an official donation page for local residents and staff to give money, which includes an Amazon Wish List where people who want to help can purchase essential items requested by refugees from the popular online marketplace.
This can be found here: https://webtest.rbkc.gov.uk/community-and-local-life/how-you-can-help-afgha…
In addition, the Council has also begun securing primary school places in the local area to help young people arriving in difficult circumstances get a head-start in their new life here in the UK.
Kensington and Chelsea’s Head of Early Help and Social Work, Natasha Bishop, said:
“We know that having a safe and secure educational base can help young children not only integrate and learn, but support them through traumatic times.
“We have secured a number of primary school places already and we will be seeing what the possibilities are for older children and secondary schools.”