Scottish island Bute to welcome UK's first refugees with screening of It's a Wonderful Life

The island will welcome 15 Syrian refugee families including around 50 children

Alexandra Sims
Monday 16 November 2015 11:45 GMT
Comments
 A cinema in Rothesay, Bute will host the special screening
A cinema in Rothesay, Bute will host the special screening

The Scottish island of Bute, set to receive some of the UK’s first refugees, will stage a community screening of the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life to welcome the new arrivals.

The island, which has a population of 6,300, will welcome 15 Syrian refugee families in the following weeks, including around 50 children, the Guardian reports.

The community film screening of the yuletide favourite will take place on 13 December, hosted by a cinema in the town of Rothesay.

The event has reportedly sold out and the proceeds raised will fund basic amenities for the refugees.

The first UK charter flight of Syrian refugees arrived in Glasgow last week, Press Association reports.

The Home Office confirmed it has received offers to house refugees from more than 45 local authorities, including 17 in Scotland, which have aimed to take in as many as possible before Christmas.

More than a thousand refugees are expected in Scotland and they will be dispersed throughout west central areas of the country.

To reach their new homes at the foot of the Argyll peninsula, the 15 families will undertake a 30 minute journey from Glasgow to Gourock, followed by an hour-long ferry trip.

Despite some minor contention, the reaction from locals to the island’s new arrivals has been overwhelmingly positive.

Craig Borland, editor of local paper The Buteman, said in a column: “I want Bute to be a place where people who come here with little more than the clothes they are standing in can feel safe and at home.”

Council Leader, Councillor Dick Walsh, said: “We have a moral duty to help. We cannot sit back and do nothing while these poor people try desperately to escape war torn countries, risking their lives and their family’s lives in the process.

“If we can help just 20 people, then that’s 20 people who will have the opportunity of a better life.”

Aidan Canavan, owner of Bute Brewery, which will provide mulled wine at the festive fundraising event, told the Guardian he already has plans for a further community event: “I can’t wait to taste Syrian food. Once they’re settled in, I want to ask them to have a Syrian food night in the church hall.”

An event in Rothesay last month invited island residents to suggest ways in which they might be able to help some of the refugee families, prompting the Argyll and Bute community planning partnership to set up a “skills bank” to identify local people who can teach English, translate and simply befriend the refugees.

The council has set up a Refugee Resettlement Group, which has made arrangements for where the families will live.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in