Runcorn and Frodsham Soroptimists have been working with Umbrella Runcorn a local group who are delivering support to Syrian refugee families living in the borough of Halton. The first thing the club did was to provide funding for the women to attend ‘Fit to Dance’ sessions in a culturally safe environment for them.
The club has also helped organise informal craft sessions where the women have been given the opportunity to learn a new skill as well as engage in English conversation in an informal setting. The women asked to learn how to knit and crochet and were very quick to learn. They soon produced this colourful blanket made from their first attempts at their new-found skills. They have decided to donate the blanket to the local Nightstop centre.
The Refugee families are dispersed widely across the Borough, so this craft/ activity group has also given the women an opportunity to meet up regularly and develop friendships and feel less isolated as they begin to settle into their new homes.