'Ahlan wa sahlan'

means 'Welcome' in Arabic, and here is Sarah teaching a swathe of our community how to say it when they encounter our forthcoming new arrivals. 
This was the final moment of an event in the Town Hall called 'The Journey So Far' organised by our Croeso/Welcome group. Its purpose was to inform, explain and thank local people for their support and good will over the past year as we have struggled with a hundred and one challenges and hurdles in order to satisfy the exacting, and frequently changing, government stipulations involved in becoming one of the very first independent 'community sponsorship' initiatives to invite and welcome Syrian refugee families, as distinct from the local authority-managed resettlement schemes.
(See here and here for the background on this.)

The Town Hall was packed and all the feedback was positive (although we are aware there are people with reservations or anxieties too.) The food (some supplied by our Kurdish friends at the kebab shop, Syrian pastries made as usual by us) went down well,  there was a powerful  short film about the experience of one young Syrian man given asylum in Canada, the story Stepping Stones about refugees told in pebble pictures, a panel of  individuals to answer questions and, to top it all, the announcement of the news (just in!) that our scheme had finally received the Home Office's imprimatur. This means that we could be saying Ahlan wa sahlan to a Syrian family in 6 to 8 weeks' time.

If this were not enough, we were followed throughout our day of preparation and setting up by a professional film crew who trained their cameras and mics on us and other members of the community as they seized photo opps and interviews for a film to be viewable on the Home Office website. Our 'journey' will we hope assist many more voluntary  sponsorship initiatives to offer a welcome to refugee families - but be warned, it's not an easy ride and this is only the run-up to the real challenge ahead.

Extra images show more from the evening's event.