SCHOOL pupils learning how to say hello in Arabic, supplies of clothes and toys being gathered and plans for a “pop-up” community centre are just some of the extensive preparations being made to welcome 15 refugee families to the Isle of Bute.

There will be 28 adults and 31 children arriving – with one extra addition imminent as a family is expecting a new baby. Twelve of the families will be resettled before Christmas, with a further three families arriving early in the New Year.

The families are currently in camps in Lebanon and will be arriving on Bute as part of a UK-wide resettlement programme for the most vulnerable refugees.

Efforts to welcome them on the island include around 60 residents – as many as the number of refugees who are arriving – becoming involved in an informal project which will see a temporary “pop-up” community centre opened up in a church to help support the new families.

Donations such as clothes and toys are being gathered at the centre to be offered to the refugees once they arrive.

Two interpreters – one male, one female – will assist the refugees in their first few weeks of arrival and at least two Arabic speakers on the island have volunteered their help.

Pupils at Rothesay Joint Campus school have also been gearing up to welcome the refugee children, who will attend both the primary and secondary schools. The preparations have included learning a few words of Arabic – such as ‘hello’ and ‘my name is’ and a programme of lessons to teach children about refugees.

Douglas Zavaroni, 17, a sixth-year pupil, said: “There is real excitement about it and is a real talking point at the school at the moment.”

Yesterday at a press conference in Rothesay, council officials were keen to stress the community support which has been gathering to help the refugees.

Cleland Sneddon, executive director of community services for Argyll and Bute Council, said the families were "for us no longer Syrian refugee families, but our families".

“Over the last eight weeks there has been immense community support," he said.

“We have had contacts from just about every corner of the globe to offer support or simply say we think what is being done here is really substantial and we wish you the best.

“Scotland has had a tremendous tradition of integrating communities who have settled here, I am fully confident they will settle in Argyll and Bute and become valued members of our community.”

Michael Russell, the SNP MSP for Argyll and Bute, said the refugees would be coming to contribute to the community.

He said: “Scots have a long history of going elsewhere to contribute to other countries. The people who are coming here are going to contribute to this community, they are going to make their lives here, they are going to find a better place to live free of persecution and danger, they are going to invest their futures in this community and they will make a huge contribution to it.

“Rothesay is not full up, Argyll and Bute is not full up, Scotland is not full up. We have space and room for those who want to and will contribute to the life of this community and this country.”

There have been residents who have expressed concern at the arrival of the refugees – a local community council meeting held last week on the issue attracted nearly 100 residents, with some raising questions such as why the families were being given homes which could have gone to homeless people in Scotland.

But housing and council officials insist the majority of the reaction has been positive and that Bute is an ideal place to house residents, with at least 40 housing association properties currently available on the island for which there is no demand. 

Also speaking yesterday was Argyll and Bute councillor and Provost Len Scoullar, who made headlines last week after reports he said - referring to the refugees - that he “hoped there was not a terrorist among this lot”. He later denied having made the remarks.

He said: “People in Argyll and Bute are known for their warmth and friendliness, which has been proved by the huge offers of support already shown by communities across the area for those seeking refuge from Syria.

“People in Bute have stepped forwards to offer skills and services they have to make the families feel welcome and to help them settle in. This will be invaluable for the families who will be feeling incredibly vulnerable and confused just now.

“We are currently putting in place the arrangements for support on the island for the first few weeks of arrival, this will include interpreters, health, education and housing services.

“I am looking forward to their arrival and we will be working hard to help them settle.”