DOZENS turned out to march through the town centre in support of refugees.

Heavy rain failed to dampen the spirits of the fifty protestors who stopped traffic along Commercial Road, as they marched a circular route through the town centre from Wharf Green.

The demonstration, which was organised by the Swindon People’s Assembly but attended by a range of local groups, is the third of its kind in Swindon.

It was called to raise awareness of the positive contribution of refugees and asylum seekers to the town.

Organiser Kate Linnegar, 56, of Swindon People’s Assembly, said: “We’re hoping to promote a positive attitude towards visitors to our community. We realise they are a positive for our community and our country.

“We know there is a lot of anger [towards refugees] and we want to counter that.

“We think that people are suffering because of the austerity cuts - and refugees and others have been made into scapegoats.”

Last year more than 100 people turned out for the march – making it one of the best attended political events in Swindon for several years.

Kate said: “We were hoping to have a hundred today. But the weather may have put people off coming.”

Joining the Swindon People’s Assembly on the march were local groups like the Green Party and Swindon City of Sanctuary, which supports refugees and asylum seekers in the town.

Swindon City of Sanctuary’s Shareen Campbell, 60, said: “It was fantastic to see so many people turn out to show solidarity with people all over the world.

“It’s very important that we show the refugees that they are welcome here. And the refugees I know do generally feel welcome here. A lot of people in Swindon are friendly on a one-to-one level."

Swindon is one of four towns in the south west designated by government as “dispersal” towns. Around 200 asylum seekers are housed in Swindon while the Home Office considers their claim. While they are housed here, the refugees are given £5 a day on which to live.

Bradley Williams, 19, of Swindon Young Greens and one of those attending the march, said: “I think it [the plight of refugees] should matter to anyone with a heart.

“I would like to think that if, God forbid, anything should happen in this country, I would make it out to a safe country with my family.”

Ken Kimber, 59, is secretary of Swindon Green Party – but also volunteers with the Harbour Project, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in Swindon.

“I’ve become more and more active [in refugee politics] since working with Harbour," he said. "I’m working with people there who are qualified clinical psychiatrists. These people could be contributing so much more.”

Former headteacher Julia Arkell, 78, said that her childhood friend's parents had escaped Nazi Germany: "My best friend, Susie, was the daughter of refugees from Nazi Germany. Her mother was a Jewess and her father was a communist."

Marcher Julia, who said that as a teacher she had never had a class composed entirely of British children, added: "I was brought up to realise that everyone was a human being."

The marchers, who met in Wharf Green, attracted some interest from passers-by.

One, 21-year-old student Jacob Badcock, was supportive of the march. He said: “It’s not something you see very often in Swindon.”

Others shouted criticism at the marchers, saying that the government was wrong to support refugees and suggesting that funding should support British-born homeless. One man, Daniel, who said he had spent time living on the streets and has struggled to get a job, said: “It’s ridiculous.”