THE Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Tuesday launched a new “London Refugee Response” fund to support the resettlement of Afghan refugees following flood of donations from Londoners.
About 9,000 refugees have so far arrived in the UK from Afghanistan, with up to 3,500 having arrived in London.
The fund, a collaboration between City Hall, London councils and The London Community Foundation, will be a “one-stop shop” for people to donate to the resettlement effort and help refugees build a new life.
Sadiq Khan met with volunteers at the Lewisham Donation Hub on Tuesday morning, where he thanked Londoners for their “incredible” response so far during the launch of the new fund.
Khan said: “I’m immensely proud that our city has once again demonstrated that we are welcoming and open to all. The response from Londoners has been incredible and I’d like to thank everyone who has offered donations to help Afghan refugees and all the volunteers who are giving their time to help.
“I’m also deeply humbled by the courage and resilience of all those who have arrived in our city in the most difficult of circumstances. Our charities, voluntary organisations and councils are doing all they can to help them settle into our city and showing that we will always provide refuge to those seeking sanctuary, and I’m delighted to today launch the new London Refugee Response to help even more Londoners donate.”