AN Aberystwyth campaign group has now raised enough money to bring a Syrian refugee family to Aberystwyth after raising more than £2,000 in one night.

It was reported in the Cambrian News in December that Aberaid, the local group set up to raise awareness of and support for Syrian refugees, were raising money to move forward with the Community Sponsorship Programme.

The programme is a UK government initiative which allows community groups to raise money and organise to be able to bring a family or group of Syrian refugees into their community. And following Aberaid’s ‘Cariad i’r Byd’-‘Love to the World’ fundraising event at the Morlan Centre last Thursday evening, which was attended by more than 200 people, raising £2,127, the group has now far surpassed the £9,000 target required to begin the process of resettling a family.

Lindsey Gaunt, Aberaid co-ordinator, said: “We are now in a position to officially launch our refugee community sponsorship programme. This evening is the culmination of a couple of months’ hard work by many people in developing a vision and a plan of action for how to accomplish this."

She added: “Together with the money raised this evening, we are now looking at a total of £16,443. We can’t thank people enough for their generosity and support.”

And Mrs Gaunt said the group would now begin developing a resettlement plan before presenting it to Ceredigion County Council, which needs to approve it before a formal application is submitted to the Home Office.

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