PETERSFIELD residents and groups are invited to an open meeting about homing refugee families in the town.

The Rural Refugee Network (RRN) aims to find five refugee families from Syria a home in and around Petersfield by August 2016.

East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds said: “I applaud this initiative, and the creating of local awareness and involvement in how we can help refugees coming here as part of the joint implementation of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme by East Hampshire District Council and Hampshire County Council.

“A key part will involve finding suitable rented properties and anything we can do to identify those quickly will be of great help.”

The network is based in the Petersfield area, and alongside councils, churches, private landlords, housing associations and volunteers, it plans to find homes for the Syrian families.

Coming from camps in and around Syria, they will be selected by the Government, and the UN High Commissioner of Refugees.

At present, a central hub of volunteers from across East Hampshire and West Sussex is being created. This will enable more powerful action locally and regionally on refugees’ behalf, and will provide long term support for the families.

A RRN spokesman said: “Already RRN has over 400 Facebook group members.

“We would like to hear from volunteers, and private landlords happy to rent a property to a Syrian family.

“The help of Arabic speakers and Syrians living here would also be very useful.”

The meeting in Petersfield Community Centre on Monday, December 7, at 8pm is open to individuals and groups interested in helping Syrian refugees.

For details, visit the group’s Facebook page ‘Rural Refugee Network’ or e-mail: [email protected]