MEMBERS of Southampton's multicultural communities got the opportunity to forge new relationships with the city's police and local authorities at a special conference.

The get-together at Southampton's council chamber in the Civic Centre provided asylum seekers and refugees now settled in the city with a chance to meet with agency members face-to-face.

As well as hearing a talk from Southampton mayor Councillor Parvin Damani MBE, they got to take part in workshops on how to improve issues such as health, education and employment. Don John, from the social cohesion team at the council, said: "The aim of the conference was to try and build better relationships between community newcomers and the city's services.

"It was a way of introducing them so that they could speak to them more confidently in groups or independently in future. It also enabled police and the local authorities to assess the different needs of people from multicultural communities."