Volunteers in Kenilworth have rallied quickly to provide essential supplies to local asylum seekers who are about to be moved at short notice from the Riverside Hotel on the outskirts of town.

Some 120 asylum seekers from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq have been living at the hotel since December 2021, supported by locals from across the town and in particular from community group Compassionate Kenilworth.

But with less than a week's notice, the asylum seekers are set to be moved away from the town, to elsewhere in the UK.

Following the news, a joint statement from Cllrs James Kennedy and Richard Dickson thanked locals for their continued support.

"How we welcome people who come to Kenilworth and the surrounding area is a defining characteristic of what it means to live in our community," the town councillors wrote.

"In the past two years a large team of Kenilworth residents primarily coordinated by Compassionate Kenilworth, and also some of our other community groups, have volunteered to support several hundred asylum seekers who had been sent to live in our area by UK government officials.

"These people came from a wide range of countries, ethnicities and circumstances.

"They included men, women and children each of whom had endured a stressful journey to get to our country in the hope of being welcomed here in their search for peace and security.

"We have welcomed these asylum seekers in our shops and cafes.

"Residents have played football matches with them and volunteers have helped them learn English.

"Clothing has been donated, local schools have welcomed the children and friendships have been established."

A football match at the old Kenilworth School between local volunteers and asylum seekers (image supplied)

Over the past two years, town councillors across the political spectrum have been vocal in calls for better support for the asylum seekers.

In particular, members at Kenilworth Town Council have called on their county colleagues to provide free bus travel, given the hotel is a long walk from the town centre.

"This week, with less than one week's notice, these asylum seekers have been told that in the next few days they will be forcibly moved by officials working on behalf of our central government to new accommodation in the UK," the statement added.

"To support them in the next stage of their journey, volunteers in Kenilworth have rallied round quickly to provide suitcases and rucksacks.

"It is therefore an appropriate time to say a huge thank you to everyone in Kenilworth who has helped to extend the humble hand of welcome to these asylum seekers.

"Unlike some members of our country's leadership, these volunteers have shown much-needed human empathy and practical compassion.

"It is to be hoped that, at some future happier stage, the asylum seekers will be able to look back on their time in our area with a sense of warm appreciation."