North Shropshire college has begun holding integration classes for local refugees to help them with their English skills and teach them key phrases.

Currently, there are 12 students in the class; 10 from families taken in from Lebanon by the UN, and two from Bangladesh.

Alongside English skills, there will be a focus on employability, with training also covering interview techniques.

Everything they learn in class, including names of medication, is designed to help the students transition into their local communities and let them access healthcare.

The class, which is being delivered with help from Refugee Action, a national refugee charity, has been running since September 2016, and will continue until summer this year.

The charity assists with refugee resettlement, homelessness and poverty, and offers help and advice to asylum seekers who are adjusting to their new environments. It also offers resources to organisations who are looking to help with the process.

Rosemarie Sellers, who tutors the group, said: “They are a pleasure to teach. I wish all of my students were as polite as they are. It’s an honour to be able to help in any way I can.”

Refugee Action reports that the United Kingdom is accepting up to 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020.

 

Featured picture: Some of the refugees in the class