Asylum seekers who are currently housed at Ipswich’s Novotel hotel took part in the Suffolk Day celebrations.

Staff and students at the University of Suffolk welcomed the group for lunch and a tour.

The asylum seekers, who are supported by the Sanctuary Day Centre organisation, enjoyed a look at the campus wildflower meadow, campus tour, lunch and social time in the Students’ Union space with a presentation about the University’s outreach programme.

Professor Helen Langton MBE, vice-chancellor at the University of Suffolk, said: “As a Community Impact University it is important to for us to use a celebratory day like Suffolk Day to open our doors to those living locally to us and share Suffolk - our history, our vision and our Suffolk welcome.

“We are pleased to be able to invite refugees to be our guests and look forward to welcoming them to our university and our county.”

Molly Leeson, from Sanctuary Day Centre, added that access to education is the most fundamental need for asylum seekers and refugees to integrate into society and begin their new life in the UK.

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She added: “It was such an important and positive experience for them to be welcomed with open arms by the University of Suffolk community.

“For these young and ambitious individuals that find themselves in such a difficult situation, it is days like these that re-ignite their hope for the future.”