Father-of-two Anas Al Meslmani proudly holding one of his wooden craftwork pieces. Picture by Declan Roughan

After fleeing their war-torn homeland 12 months ago a group of Syrian refugees are proud to call Belfast home this Christmas.

The first of six groups arrived in Northern Ireland on December 15, 2015 and last week organised a special event called 'My Syria' in honour of the special anniversary and to thank the local people for the warmest of welcomes.

Reflecting on the past year Ali Sodi from Aleppo, said his family were now "safe" in Belfast.

"I don't want to destroy my children's future, there is no future for them back there. Their education is here, their future is here.

"When I first arrived I was afraid about the people and the culture, but I didn't realise there were such good people in Northern Ireland. We were astonished at the good nature of the people here.

"The people are so good and life is so good, I'm very happy here."

Ali, his wife Hasna and four children Riant, Loryn, Maya and Ahmed have integrated well and are learning English, with 11-year-old Ahmed involved with Patrick Sarsfield GAA club.

Back in September he helped the club claim their first juvenile hurling title for a number of years.

A world away from the destruction of his home city Aleppo, Ali admits it is difficult to watch events unfold on the television screen and knows he and his family are some of the lucky ones.

"The world has to do something about what's going on in Syria, save them because there's plenty of massacres , plenty of killings, plenty of blood, too many kids are being killed.

"Aleppo to us is home, we lived there, it's very, very hard to watch it being destroyed like this."

As for the future he and his family wish to stay in Northern Ireland and make a life for themselves.

"I'm over the moon and so are my family to be here. I'm lucky because I have a Syrian community around me at this time of year. We want to stay here. My wish is to stay in west Belfast," he added.

At last week's event the Syrian community showcased the best of their local culture with authentic foods, dress and crafts on display at a packed Belfast City Library.

Anas Al Meslmani from Homs has been an artist and craftsman since the age of 10 and proudly showed off his bespoke wood carvings.

He lives in west Belfast with wife Mervat and children Malik (4) and Judi (1), having previously spent time in Lebanon and Jordan.

"The people are very friendly here and they have shown their love for us. It was a very warm welcome from the Northern Ireland people, they offered a lot of support including financial and it means a lot. Like the people of Syria they are very friendly, a great sense of humour and very happy," he said.

Across the room the mutual respect between the Syrian and Belfast communities was clear with many warmly embracing their new-found friends. Every refugee has a unique story to tell, but collectively are all happy to be living in peace this Christmas.

Loaui Alnajjar (19) from Homs, spent three years in Lebanon before being located to Northern Ireland. His father was killed in the war and since June he has been actively involved in Rosario Football Club in south Belfast.

"Everybody's friendly and has welcomed me. The team have been great. The football is very different from my country, but I'm enjoying it here," he said as his portrait in Rosario colours sat framed in the background.

A consortium of voluntary organisations including: Barnardos; Extern; Bryson Intercultura; Red Cross; Save the Children and the Law Centre Northern Ireland all under the Department for Communities have been involved in offering support to the almost 400 refugees now living in Northern Ireland.

Michele Janes, Assistant director of Children Services Barnardos Northern Ireland has praised the response of local people in helping integrate families from the "most extreme of circumstances".

"We have been completely overwhelmed with the support the local communities have shown to our families. They have welcomed them, they've supported them, provided them with advice, information, gifts, you name it.

"We've just welcomed our sixth group into Northern Ireland, around 80 people, so we're now building these small communities within our communities . I can honestly say they have been welcomed and we will continue to welcome families to Northern Ireland over the next three years," she said.