'Here all the people know each other, that's the nicest thing': Syrian refugee featured in photography exhibition praises tight-knit Bute community

Syrian Wafa Murad, who now lives on the Isle of Bute, is featured in a national photography exhibition featuring refugees from around the UK

When Syrian mother Wafa Murad moved to the Isle of Bute two years ago with her two young sons, she knew the key to settling into her new surroundings would be to learn English.

She started visiting local Rothesay cafe, the Bonnie Bling, on her way home from council-provided English lessons, where she practised her new skills with café owner and jewellery designer Mhairi Mackenzie, and other new friends.

“[Wafa] knows a lot of people,” says Ann Russell, coordinator of English for speakers of other languages at Argyll and Bute Council. She says Ms Murad already has a talent and enthusiasm for language, already being fluent in both Arabic and Kurdish.

Wafa Murad with her friends, Sudanese sisters Sumaia Adam and Hanan Adam Mohamed, on a hill overlooking the town of Rothesay. Photo: Andrew Testa (UNHCR)

Now Ms Murad, 37, who lives with her sons Lalesh, 18, and Avinash, 11, is featured in a photographic exhibition in London featuring refugee families from across the UK.

The “Great British Welcome” exhibition, produced by UNHCR, the UN’s refugee arm, and Panos Pictures, features portraits by award-winning photographer Andrew Testa telling the stories of individuals, organisations, and communities from ten locations across the UK who are welcoming people who have been forced to flee their homes in other countries. The pictures, which feature refugees living in cities including Bradford, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester, are currently on display at Bermondsey’s More London near Tower Bridge.

With a population of just 4,000, Bute took in almost 100 refugees from Syria alone in the late 2010s, during the start of a refugee crisis which saw hundreds of thousands of people flee the war-torn country for Europe. Others, like those resettled by the UK Government in communities like Bute, came via official schemes from refugee camps elsewhere in the Middle East. Refugees from other countries are also now settled on Bute.

Ms Murad moved to Bute from a temporary home in Dohuk, Iraq, in October 2021, under the UK Government’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

Wafa Murad speaks to Oxfam employee Maggie Alexander charity's shop in Rothesay where she works three days a week. Photo: Andrew Testa (UNHCR)

Her English language skills were strengthened by retired teacher David Miles-Hanschell, a volunteer tutor, who gave her an hour of directed conversation each week. “You do what you can, it’s not rocket science,” Mr Miles-Hanschell says of the importance of offering his skills to help new arrivals such as Wafa.

“I've been a stranger in lots of places,” he continues. “It's good when you meet people who point you in the right direction, give you some ideas, act as an informant into the culture.”

Although the move to Rothesay has been a big change for Ms Murad and her family, the town’s tight knit community has helped her thrive.

“They are very helpful. When you ask anyone for help with any problem, or for anything at all, they help you,” she says.

Wafa Murad with Sudanese sisters Sumaia Adam and Hanan Adam Mohamed, in the Bonnie Bling cafe in Rothesay. Photo: Andrew Testa (UNHCR)

At Mr Miles-Hanschell’s recommendation, Ms Murad started volunteering at the local Oxfam charity shop in town and quickly became a vital member of the team, using her language skills to assist manager Jan Cochrane in training new Arabic-speaking helpers.

Ms Cochrane describes how Ms Murad quickly took charge of designing window displays and operating the till. “We trained her to use the till because her English is good enough, and she also now helps with the other Arabic speaking people. We're doing a training session for them that Wafa will help with,” says Ms Cochrane.

As Ms Murad’s confidence in the language grew, and she served scores of customers every day, she began encouraging her ​​​​​fellow newly-arrived ​friends to join her.

“If you want to improve your language, you have to work as a volunteer,” she recalls telling them.

Wafa Murad with her children near their home in Rothesay. Photo: Andrew Testa (UNHCR)

Two of her friends are Sumaia Adam and Hanan Adam Mohamed, sisters from Sudan, who were resettled to Rothesay in 2022 and who also volunteer at Oxfam.

“Wafa told us, ‘You need to practise your English. I know a place where you can sign up to volunteer,’” Ms Adam Mohamed says.

Ms Adam adds that she has found the small town to be a safe and friendly place, especially for her young children. “Here, the children can play outside on their own, and they have made good friends,” she says.

“Here all the people know each other, that's the nicest thing,” she adds.

Wafa’s growing confidence has helped her to help others too. She organised a fundraiser for a fellow Syrian refugee whose family’s home was destroyed in the 2023 Turkey and Syria earthquakes. Wafa cooked food and sweets and advertised the sale on social media. It was a huge success and Wafa made even more new friends, cementing her new-found place at the centre of a close community. “It is the thing I am most proud of,” she says.

“The stories in this exhibition are truly inspiring,” says Vicky Tennant, UNHCR representative to the UK. “People across the UK have generously welcomed refugees and asylum-seekers and are helping them to rebuild their lives in a new home, through integration and friendship.

"The mutual benefit of supporting and empowering refugees and asylum-seekers who are in turn contributing their talent, creativity and skills, is evident.”