Part of your role as Community Sponsor will be supporting the refugee family to manage and budget for their utility bills independently. Navigating an array of options available to UK consumers can be difficult for people who speak English fluently, let alone a newly arrived family. In this resource we highlight some of the key…
Stage of the process: We have welcomed a family
Divorce and separation
Like with any relationship, problems can arise for everyone no matter where or how you have been living. This is including for those who have been forced to flee their homes and are displaced. We have heard of situations where, after arrival to the UK, newly resettled refugees have experienced a marriage breakdown. There could…
Domestic Abuse – Supporting Survivors
Resources to help you understand mental health problems and available support options. This guide is to give you some information about domestic abuse. You don’t need to be an expert in this, but by familiarising yourself with some of the key issues and warning signs, you could really make a difference to someone who needs…
Driving in the UK
Community Sponsorship groups have shared with us that many of the newly arrived refugees they are welcoming are keen to have access to their own transport, to enable them to be independent. Refugees arriving with a valid driving licence from another country are usually permitted to drive on that licence for 12 months. In order to continue…
Education in Scotland
All of the children in the family you welcome are entitled to access education when they arrive in Scotland. They are automatically entitled to the same provision as a Scottish child. The Local Authority will determine how to assess the support required for children who need language support and are 16 and over. There will be…
Empowering refugee children
When Community Sponsorship Groups begin supporting resettled families, if there are children in the family, they appear to be highly adaptable; they learn English quickly and the younger they are, the faster they seem to settle into a new environment. However, it’s important for Community Sponsorship Groups to remember that moving to a new place, away…
Exit planning
When we train Community Sponsorship groups prior to the arrival of a family, we talk to groups about the end of their support. This might feel strange, and we’re not going to tell you that your relationship with a family is purely transactional, but it is important to start planning the changing nature of your support…
Experts by Experience: Mohammed’s 5 tips for learning English quickly
Mohammed attended school in Syria until year 11 when he and his family members were displaced to Egypt due to the war. In school in Syria, he started studying English around year five or six but since it wasn’t his favourite subject, he made slow progress. Although he would have liked to improve his language…
Experts by Experience: Abdullah’s driving tips
Abdullah arrived in the UK as a Syrian refugee in 2017 with only a few words of English and was welcomed by the CHARIS Community Sponsorship Group in the South West. 10 months later, he had passed his theory and practical driving tests, giving him vital independence and freedom. When he arrived in the UK,…
Experts by Experience: accessing volunteering opportunities
For the refugees you support, volunteering can present an opportunity for them to build new relationships outside of your Community Sponsorship Group. Volunteering can provide invaluable work experience and also enable people to build confidence and improve language skills. As an expert by experience, Abdullah has also written a message for refugees who might be…
Experts by Experience: Adjusting to the English education system
As part of our Experts by Experience project, we interviewed Khadeja who was resettled to North Devon in 2017 with her husband and three young children, about her and her children’s experience in adjusting to the English education system. In addition to this resource, Khadeja has produced a guide to the English education system for newly arrived parents…
Experts by Experience: Mohammad and Roba share their story of being welcomed
Mohammad and Roba sat down with us to share their experience of being welcomed by a Community Sponsorship group in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria. Pictured above are Mohammad, Roba and their three daughters. Having recently celebrated their one year anniversary of resettling to the UK, they hosted a surprise celebration for the Community Sponsorship group and…
Experts by Experience: setting up your own business
Setting up their own business is the ambition of many refugees welcomed to the UK. While route to entrepreneurship isn’t easy or short, it is also far from impossible as demonstrated by Basel. We met with him on Zoom to talk about his business – ZR Tiling Services, his passion for his work, the support he…
Experts by Experience: Starting at a new school
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 starting a new school. WARNING: This video contains flashing lights. Viewer discretion is advised. Preparing Families for the British education system…
Experts by Experience: The maternity experience of a Syrian mother
Giving birth in a country where you are unfamiliar with the systems and processes, where you don’t speak the language, and where you aren’t surrounded by family and friends is a daunting experience for any family. Mirvat, who was resettled to the UK in 2021 through Community Sponsorship, sat down with us to talk through…
Experts by Experience: The village that welcomed a family
“It just felt like something that would be real in the increasingly strange, abstracted, times of lockdown; that it would make a tangible and potentially profound difference to the life-prospects of whoever the refugees were and possibly (selfishly?!) that it might also be a positive thing for me” The group started out with Tom, an…
Family reunion
It is extremely likely that the family you support will ask you about the possibility of bringing members of their family to the UK. Whilst it is possible in some cases to do so, it is extremely rare and very complex. This resource aims to give you some ideas on how you can address this as…
Good practice when working with interpreters
This resource is designed to help you understand the role of interpreters, and to help you explain this to both them and the refugees you are supporting. It explains what an interpreter should and should not do, and some of the challenges that you and they will face when working with newly arrived refugees, such as maintaining…
Guidance for families welcoming a baby
If the family you support has welcomed a new baby after their parents were given Indefinite Leave to Remain, the child will acquire British citizenship by birth. The family will not need to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain for the baby but can instead apply for a British Passport. The family can apply for…
Hate crime briefing
Sadly, hate crime against refugees is a very real problem. Although it is not by any means a common occurrence, it is something that is encountered all too frequently. However, it is something that the UK authorities now take very seriously. There are various ways in which incidents can be reported, and clear procedures on…
Home Office feedback opportunities
As a Community Sponsorship group, you will have several opportunities to provide feedback on your experience of welcoming a family to the UK. The Home Office have created a brief on their reporting requirements to make the process as simple as possible for you to follow. Listed below are details of the opportunities for you…