A FUND aimed at helping refugees and asylum seekers begin a new life in Dorset has distributed more than £100,000 to grass roots groups and charities who are supporting them.

The Dorset Welcome Fund, which has been supported by Dorset and BCP Councils and community foundation fundholders, has just made a second round of grants totalling more than £53,000 to 12 groups. A grant round earlier this year awarded almost £50,000. In 2022 the fund awarded £88,000.

Among the grant recipients in the latest round is Safe and Sound Dorset, which was awarded £4,992 to run a weekly creative group for Ukrainian women at its The Well coffee lounge in the Royal Arcade in Boscombe. Director Dot Pickett said the women eat and talk together and celebrate their culture. “Most weeks someone plays guitar so they can sing and this is most beautiful to listen to as their songs have haunting tones and are accompanied with tears and laughter,” she said.

“The women say that they look forward to every meeting and say that here they have become happier and feel more settled. The environment created allows opportunities to re-tell stories of escape, share tears and memories, compare notes on British culture, navigate affordability of life in the UK.”

Recreate Dorset in Bournemouth is using a £5,850 grant to run a weekly music group for men of all nationalities who are seeking asylum or have been granted refugee status. Director Carol Maund said: “The men, young and old, feel comfortable to join with little experience. They find it both therapeutic and a way to help them relax and start to build relationships with others.

“We have seen positive outcomes already, with feedback that they feel more confident to leave their place of residence and to meet others in similar situations. They say the music sessions help them deal with anxiety and stress and they have now made new friendships so reducing their isolation and loneliness.”

We couldn’t do what we do without the funds from the Welcome Fund, it just would be impossible

Shaftesbury Refugee Group was awarded a third grant from the fund of £3,900 to continue its programme of cultural community events for Ukrainian visitors and locals, English language summer schools and visits to help refugees understand life in Britain. The group also supports families with grants to help them settle in.

Trustee Bryan Twiss said: “We couldn’t do what we do without the funds from the Welcome Fund, it just would be impossible.

“The visits we run, the individual support that we’re able to give to families in need all make such a difference to them. Many of the families are moving from private to rented accommodation and that has its own particular burdens, so we’re able to help them

“Every one of those little gifts provides a signal to them that the community is there for them and the community cares.”

He said a recent trip to Oxford was so oversubscribed the group had to hire two extra coaches to accommodate Ukrainian families from Dorchester and Blandford. “It brought them together as a group and they could see themselves as an entity, whereas typically, particularly in North Dorset, they’re spread out,” said Mr Twiss.

“They’re in lots of farmhouses and large houses out in the country, and they can feel very isolated. So that opportunity to bring people together and recognise that they’re not really as isolated, really helped.”

Dorset Community Foundation Chief Executive Grant Robson said: “We are delighted and very thankful to have the support once again from Dorset Council, BCP Council and our fundholders. This time of year is a difficult one to be separated from loved ones, particularly when they are thousands of miles away and living in a war zone, so the work all of these groups are doing to bring people together and show them their communities really do care about them is fantastic.”

Pictured: Safe and Sound Dorset’s Ukrainian women’s group has received a £4,992 grant from the Dorset Welcome Fund, left

Pictured: Shaftesbury Refugee Group was awarded a third grant from the Dorset Welcome Fund of £3,900 to continue its programme of cultural community events for Ukrainian visitors, centre

Pictured: Recreate Dorset has been awarded £5,850 from the Dorset Welcome Fund to run a weekly men’s music group