Skövde

Housing

In Skövde there is accommodation of all types: flats with rights of tenancy, cooperative flats and self-contained houses. There are many large housing estates and rented flats which are owned and managed by the municipal accommodation company Skövdebostäder AB. Large, private rental accommodation companies are Apartement AB and Balder Din Bostad. A list of all landlords in the municipality can be found on Skövde municipality's detailed website.

Language groups in the locality

Skövde municipality has a long history of immigration from Europe and the Middle East. At the end of the 1960s and the start of the 1970s, there was a great influx of foreign labour to industry from Balkans primarily. Later in the 1970s, immigrants came from Turkey and Lebanon, who established themselves as businessmen and company owners amongst in Skövde amongst other things. There are also immigrants and refugees here from Southeast Asia and, in later years, an influx of refugees, many from Somalia, the Congo and Afghanistan. So many residents of Skövde speak languages other than Swedish and English!

Associations and organisations

As the chief town in the region, Skövde has numerous associations. There is a full list of all associations and religious communions on the municipality's association register. There is a large number of sports associations with a large number of members. Handball and football are popular sports, but there are many other associations for everyone from young to old. Most residents in the municipality are members of one association or other. It's in the associations that people meet and make contact. In Skövde there are also large congregations of Assyrians and Syrians. There are plans to build a mosque. There are also two Somalian congregations.

What is available in the immediate area

As Skövde is the largest and most expanding municipality in the region, there is a widest possible range here of activities within civic services. The job centre, regional social insurance office and tax office all have offices here. The municipal service includes, within social administration, a special unit for those who recently come to live in Sweden, the so-called integration unit. Most authorities are located near to Skövde's centre, so the different authorities are within a comfortable walking distance of one another.

In the centre there is also a community centre with a library which has newspapers and other literature in many different languages. There is also an art gallery and a municipal theatre.

Skövde is known for its shopping. There are numerous large shopping centres in the municipality which sees an influx of customers from all over the region. It is easy to find inexpensive furniture and household appliances in the second-hand shops here. Shops with goods from the Middle East, Africa and Asia have been found in the municipality for a long time.

Childcare

Childcare in Skövde is well established. The waiting time to get a place at preschool is short, roughly a couple of weeks. The many preschools in the municipality strive to enable families to obtain a place close to where they live. Most preschools are run by the municipality, but there are also privately run preschools.

Compulsory schools and upper secondary schools

In Skövde there are many comprehensive schools which satisfy the needs of the municipality's residents. There are many upper secondary schools with many different emphases. Most of the upper secondary schools are run by the municipality, and these are supplemented by private schools.

Education opportunities

As Skövde is a city for study, there is education available at every conceivable level. In addition to sfi and social orientation for those who have recently settled in Sweden, there is also a well-established system of municipal adult education with both theoretical and vocationally based courses. The high school in Skövde is known for its computer game education but also has many other courses and programmes on offer. There is also the opportunity for those recently settled in Sweden who have an academic education to take a short cut to quickly come into contact within an academic network.

Health and medical care

The access to health care and treatment in Skövde is very good. The large hospital has 1,500 employees, emergency care and specialist care. In the districts of the city there are many welfare centres which also provide antenatal care and child health centres. There are also private care providers, and the Red Cross here in Skövde is a centre which specialises in the treatment of war casualties and torture victims.

Interpreter assistance

The region of Skaraborg is well equipped with interpreters which in general are distributed through a municipal interpreting service in Mariestad.

Public transport

As Skövde is a chief city, the communications are also well developed. The municipality is located just an hour by train from Gothenburg and two hours from Stockholm. The communication links with buses are also well established in urban areas and out into the country in the vicinity of Skövde. Read more on Västtrafik's website for information on timetables and departures.

Work and entrepreneurship

Approximately 40% of Skövde's tax revenue comes from small companies. There are good opportunities to start and run companies in the municipality. Many of the small companies are owned by people who emigrated to Sweden. There are good opportunities to get advice and assistance with starting up a company through the job centre, Almi or Coompanion. The largest employers in Skövde are Volvo with 5,000 employees, the hospital with 1,500 and businesses with a similar number.