"We are committed to being welcoming" - Colchester City Council awarded City of Sanctuary status
Colchester City Council was awarded the status by the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network
Colchester City Council has been awarded City of Sanctuary status.
The council's Resettlement Team, in partnership with local organisations, helps newcomers adapt and contribute to life in the city.
RAMA, Essex Integration, African Families in the UK, Bangladeshi Women's Association, and the Colchester Caribbean Group all work with the council to create inclusion and cohesion.
We spoke to David Kind, leader of Colchester City Council, who said:
"We are committed to being welcoming, and fair, to everyone in the community, which is what I hope everybody would expect."
"The most important thing for me is that we even-handedly do all we can to help existing communities, and those who arrive."
"We don't set the policy on migration, central government does that. But it is local communities that have to deal with the realities.
"I say there are three things for me: a welcome to anybody who arrives in our city and district, whether it is coming from London or coming from afar, like Ukraine or Afghanistan.
"Whoever is here should feel welcome. They should feel they will get fair treatment when they look to local authorities for help and support, like everybody else.
"They should be encouraged to feel that they can integrate and be part of some of our communities. It is really crucial for the long-term that people are encouraged to be good citizens."
He said that the award is important to the council:
"It is a test of our effectiveness, our efficiency, and our heart.
"Every community should be able to get in touch with the council, to ask for help and support, and to bring their challenges to us."
David also said that he would like to thank "a long list of people who give their own time and effort to other people."
"I want to encourage everybody in Colchester who's got an open heart to others is to treat people with differences as a good neighbour would treat others. That's our approach and we're doing our little little bit here in this way to encourage that positive spirit.
"New arrivals, wherever they may come from and will be encouraged to be good citizens and to feel at home in Colchester. It is a place with a long history of welcoming others from abroad and making the best of what is a challenge for the many, including the host population."