In October 2017 the EU's Urban Innovative Actions fund awarded more than £4m to Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton for the MiFriendly Cities project, a 3- year initiative that will look to development innovative, community- led and sustainable approaches to enhancing the contribution of refugees and migrants across the region.
Our exciting programme has been designed to create opportunities for refugee and migrant communities in Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the Black Country.
Migrants and refugees have helped to develop this initiative and to establish what makes a city 'Migration Friendly'. With this grassroots approach we hope to see citizens across the community working with local businesses, government, and voluntary organisations to build a MiFreindly region together.
The project will continue to be shaped by the community across the 3- years, and we hope that this will encourage a spirt of solidarity, with the West Midlands becoming a place in which everyone feels a true sense of belonging.
The project is being delivered by an innovative partnership of 11 organisations. These include the three city councils from Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Coventry, a multinational company, a university, a law centre, a consultancy and three migrant- run charities including the Refugee and Migrant Centre Black Country and Birmingham.