A SPECIAL Christmas celebration was held by refugees living in Ceredigion earlier this month.

Ceredigion County Council joined forces with the Widening Access Team at University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) to provide a special Orthodox Christmas Day, a holiday celebrated in Ukraine on January 7.

Ukrainians and all refugees living in Ceredigion and on the border with Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire celebrated Orthodox Christmas Day at Lampeter Campus.

More than 120 attendees – including some of the university’s residential students - celebrated the occasion – with the Orthodox church being the main religion in Ukraine.

There were opportunities for play, music and craft activities, informal discussions with partner agencies to help with integration into the local community with the likes of The British Red Cross, NHS Community Development Outreach Team, Careers Wales, Dyfed Powys Police, Housing Justice Cymru and Citizens Advice Ceredigion all present.

Cllr Alun Williams, deputy leader of Ceredigion County Council. Lampeter’s deputy mayor Cllr Rhys Bebb Jones and Lampeter councillor Ann Bowen Morgan also joined the celebrations.

One of the attendees, Laryssa, said: “Thank you very much to all the people who organised this event for us. It was nice, kind and tasty.”

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Cllr Williams said: “It was wonderful to bring a range of people from the community together in one place to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas Day with our refugees.

“Ceredigion, as well as neighbouring counties, have welcomed others with open arms. This was an opportunity to bring everyone together, share information and celebrate the day together and it all went extremely well.”

Samantha Bowen, UWTSD widening access manager, said: “UWTSD is committed to removing the barriers to participation in higher education faced by those seeking asylum in the UK.

“The university is currently applying for University of Sanctuary status which will enable refugees and asylum seekers to access free education and support during their studies and has offered a scholarship enabling students from Ukraine to study the postgraduate award in Global Citizenship and Sustainable Leadership.”

Arts4Wellbeing, Active Ceredigion and Lampeter Ukulele group provided entertainment and TGP Cymru loaned a smoothie bike for the event.