Xplore Dundee has teamed up with Dundee City Council to offer a month of free bus travel to refugees who adopt the city as their new home.
Since Monday 30 May, a new ‘Welcome Assistance Pass’ offers free and unlimited bus travel to refugees for up to a month after they arrive in Dundee. The scheme will be co-sponsored by Dundee City Council and Xplore Dundee, giving refugees access to the city’s local bus network to help make it easier for people to settle into their new surroundings.
The Welcome Assistance Pass will initially be rolled out to Ukrainian refugees. Going forward, however, the new scheme will apply to people fleeing war or persecution from anywhere in the world. Dundee has a long tradition of welcoming those seeking safety – most recently including families from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine. Xplore Dundee also recently participated in a national effort to offer free onward travel to those coming in through both the railway station and Edinburgh Airport.
In a separate initiative, the operator continues to partner with the council to provide free DaySavers to refugees attending English language courses at Dundee & Angus College to aid social inclusion and employability.
Xplore Dundee’s Director and General Manager David Phillips, said: “We’re pleased to be working with colleagues at Dundee City Council to make life that little bit easier for people coming to this country because of conflict at home. Moving to a strange city is a big thing for anybody, especially if you’re not doing it through choice. So our hope is that the ‘Welcome Assistance Pass’ will help them find their way around town before long.”
Dundee City Council Leader John Alexander added: “Our Humanitarian Protection Team, working closely with colleagues in Xplore Dundee, is confident that this offer will be of great assistance to those resettling in the city. We are committed to doing everything we can to make Dundee a warm and welcoming city and I hope this offer will help refugees make Dundee their home.”
