A community sponsorship group in Llanidloes has raised over £8,000 in hope of resettling and supporting a refugee family in the town.

Croeso i Llanidloes was formed in September 2021, in response to the Afghanistan crisis, with the aim of resettling a vulnerable refugee family.

The group have already raised £8,675, of their £11,500 fundraising target, for this purpose.

They are initially hoping to resettle one family, the size of which will depend on accommodation and school places available.

Co-chair of Croeso i Llanidloes Joe Arrowsmith said: “We recognised that the UK Government’s initial pledge to house 5,000 Afghans seemed feeble to many of us at our first meeting, that we held to decide how we wanted to help.

“So, it was agreed that we would pursue Community Sponsorship to resettle at least one family.

“Community Sponsorship is a route for resettling families from refugee camps directly into the participating community.

Joe said the effort was particular poignant after a far-right group distributed hate leaflets in the town last month: “The community of Llanidloes has been very supportive of the project and so many people have pledged their time to help welcome a family when they arrive.

“Unfortunately not everybody feels this way – in November a group from out of town were distributing xenophobic leaflets door-to-door, filming people as they went about it.

“Following this, we received a string of donations from Llani locals, totalling £200, who had been repulsed by the racist literature.

“I am aware that, although many people are supportive of welcoming refugees into Wales, there remains a loud minority who oppose this sort of aid.”

The Croeso i Llanidloes fundraiser can be found here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/croeso-i-llanidloes?.