As we see more Community Sponsorship groups investing in properties in which they can welcome a refugee family, one group have navigated this by gathering a group of investors and setting up a Declaration of Trust. This is by no means the easiest route of securing a property, but nonetheless, this is exactly what Paul…
Stage of the process: We are writing our application
Experts by Experience: Community Sponsorship
As part of our Experts by Experience platform, we interviewed Ghazala and her family who were resettled to the UK through Community Sponsorship. Watch the below video to hear them talk about their experience of resettling to the UK and the importance of Community Sponsorship. WARNING: This video contains flashing lights. Viewer discretion is advised.
Available sources of funding – key things to do
As you plan your budget you will be looking into how your group will fund the delivery of your resettlement plan. Alongside your fundraising activities, you should consider the other sources of funding that are available to sponsorship groups and to Local Authorities and GPs that provide services to resettled refugee families. You may find…
Carrying out Police Board Consultation
In order to protect the refugee family you will be welcoming from harm, and to ensure their new neighbourhood is safe to live in, the Home Office ask you to have your local police check the area you find accommodation in. Your Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team (or equivalent) will be able to provide a view…
Experts by Experience: property investment
When it comes to finding a property for a refugee family, it can feel like an insurmountable obstacle to overcome given the lack of affordable housing in the UK. We’ve seen how groups have been creative in meeting this housing challenge; some are able to find compassionate landlords who are willing to rent below the…
Finding accommodation
We know that a significant part of your work in the application process to become a Community Sponsorship group will focus on housing. As part of your sponsor agreement, you will be agreeing to source suitable accommodation for a family for a two year period. The accommodation must: Have a minimum of a two year lease Have…
Getting Local Authority consent
Community Sponsorship is a partnership involving your group, the Home Office and your Local Authority (Local Authorities if you are in a two-tier authority area). Not only will your Local Authority be able to signpost you to local services and organisations who will be able to provide assistance, but they must give their consent for your…
Introduction to Universal Credit
Note: Universal Credit will be paid from the day the application is fully submitted. The first payment will be made at least 5 weeks from the date the application is fully submitted. Make sure you help the family you’ve welcomed to apply as soon as possible after the arrival to ensure they don’t lose out…
Managing Risk
We don’t want to pretend that Community Sponsorship comes without challenges. Everything you do is about working with people, and this isn’t always an easy task! Reset are on hand to help you navigate challenges as they happen, however, groups may find it useful whilst they are planning their applications to consider how they will…
Managing volunteers
Community Sponsorship groups are made up of active, highly committed volunteers. You may be meeting each other for the first time, or you may have known each other for a long time. Either way, it’s likely that this will be the first time that you will have worked with one another in this way. We know that building…
Managing your group safely
There are some key things to think about when you start organising your group. We have outlined some of the measures that you will need to put in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your group members. You need to give careful consideration to all of these measures because the safety and wellbeing…
Preparing a complaints handling policy and procedure
In order to gain approval as a Community Sponsorship Group, your application will need to have a clear complaints policy that outlines how you will handle a complaint that may be made by the refugees you are supporting. It should outline how the complaint will be handled and the timeline for action. If you are working with…
Setting your budget
As part of your resettlement plan you will need to design a budget. This is because you need to have an idea of the costs involved in supporting a resettled family when you are deciding what kind of support your group can offer. Having an idea of the costs will also help you to plan your…
Supporting refugees affected by the benefit cap
The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of welfare benefits each family or individual receives. The benefit cap affects Universal Credit as well as Child Benefit (if the family you support still gets legacy benefits you can find list of all affected benefits here). As of 20 October 2021, the benefit cap…
Working with landlords
Community Sponsorship groups across the UK have developed hugely creative ways to find affordable, sustainable accommodation for families arriving through Community Sponsorship. For the most part, we are seeing groups accessing property through private landlords, whether they are connected to the group or not. In this resource, we will look at the role of the landlord in…
Working with your SMP
Each of the nine English Regions and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has a Strategic Migration Partnership (SMP) which is equipped to provide the full range of services required with regard to migration issues in their Region. SMPs in England, Wales and Scotland* coordinate a number of programmes including refugee resettlement under the Government resettlement…
ESOL Briefing for Community Sponsorship Groups
This substantial downloadable resource contains detailed information on the types of English classes available, the key issues for Community Sponsorship Groups when supporting refugees to access English classes, and advice on how your group can support language learning. Download Community Sponsorship Groups in Scotland may find that the ESOL provision in the nation differs from other…
ESOL in Scotland
There is a strong framework of practice, legislation and policy to support ESOL provision for refugees in Scotland. Education is a devolved matter, English for Speakers of other Languages are the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The framework includes provision for those who are not literate in their own language to access university. There are…
Fundraising
As part of your approval to be a community sponsor, you will need to raise £9,000 to cover any of the project expenses. This resource aims to provide ideas and approaches to help you raise money to support the resettled family you will be welcoming. As you produce your resettlement plan, you’ll be able to build a…
Interpreting options
There are various different ways you can work with interpreters. You could work with paid, volunteer or bilingual volunteers (who work with the family in their own language, and also interpret when required). They could carry out their interpreting either face to face or over the phone. Whichever option you choose, make sure that the interpreter you work…
Introduction to empowerment and integration
Integrating into a new country, or community, is a very personal process and it is impossible to put a timescale on how long it will take for someone to feel integrated. For some people, it may be a matter of months. For others, it could take years and integration is an ongoing process. It may…