Pre-Arrival Contact Guidance

The UK may be very different to the countries that refugee families arrive from, and so, as much as families are relieved and happy to hear they’re going to be resettled here, the idea can also be a little nerve-wracking too. By enabling families to make contact with the Community Sponsorship group prior to their…

Addressing housing complaints

As a Community Sponsorship group, you will have gone to great lengths to source suitable housing for a refugee family. You will have invited your Local Authority to view the accommodation for suitability, you may be paying housing rent top-up and you may even have renovated or purchased a property. The refugees you support will…

Arrival planning guidance

The day you’ve been planning for is getting very close! Here, we share what other groups have done or thought about during the arrival period.   Managing the arrival of the family you will be supporting is usually one of the most exciting parts of your Community Sponsorship journey, as it marks the time when all…

Experts by Experience: Abdullah’s resettlement experience

One question that we’re often asked in Reset’s Community Sponsorship training sessions is: “What do refugees think their life in the UK will be like before they’re resettled?” We usually answer these questions with a range of anecdotes but with a strong reminder that refugees will have a breadth of opinions, worldviews and expectations of…

Experts by Experience: Khadeja’s resettlement experience

One question that we’re often asked in Reset’s Community Sponsorship training sessions is: “What do refugees think their life in the UK will be like before they’re resettled?” We usually answer these questions with a range of anecdotes but with a strong reminder that refugees will have a breadth of opinions, worldviews and expectations of…

Experts by Experience: Mohammed’s resettlement experience

One question that we’re often asked in Reset’s Community Sponsorship training sessions is: “What do refugees think their life in the UK will be like before they’re resettled?” We usually answer these questions with a range of anecdotes but with a strong reminder that refugees will have a breadth of opinions, worldviews and expectations of…

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…

Food, furniture and household items

Community Sponsorship groups will need to provide equipment, groceries and other basic items in the property ahead of a refugee family’s arrival. Like with anyone, there will be personal and cultural preferences around food and household items, and you will want to strike a balance between giving refugees choices about what is in their home,…

Introduction to cultural awareness

Understanding the culture of the refugees your Community Sponsorship Group are supporting is very important in the process of building rapport with the refugee family. Cultural awareness can include so many different areas – from understanding the family’s preferences or taboos to being able to help them celebrate their religious festivals. In this resource we…

Preparing accommodation

You will need to obtain accommodation that is of a good and adequate standard and available at a sustainable cost for the family. The Home Office will need to be satisfied that it is suitable, and your Local Authority must be invited to inspect the property. You will have carried out a huge amount of…

Supporting refugees to access healthcare

Helping newly arrived refugees to access the healthcare they need will be essential once they arrive in the UK. As part of your Sponsor Agreement with the Home Office you will be agreeing that you will help refugees to register with a GP within one week of arrival, and you will have researched the registration…

Welcome Pack

As part of your application form, you will be asked to prepare a Welcome Pack for the family. Below is a list of suggested documents you could include. You may wish to add, remove or amend the title of any of these documents – it’s really about what you as a group would like to…

Welcome to the UK booklet

Groups have found it useful to refer to this booklet and the information it contains to remind the family they are supporting about life in the UK. This is provided to refugees before they arrive in the UK, and should be provided in hard copy to your group. The booklet was created in 2018/9 by the Home…

Addressing misinformation about life in the UK

Moving to a new country without speaking the language, knowing the house you’ll move  to and having only a vague idea of the support you’ll receive can be a terrifying prospect. It is not surprising that many refugees decide to seek information on what to expect in the UK wherever they can. Those who can,…

Changes to BRPs

The Biometric Residency Permit is the ID card that will be issued to each family member once they have arrived in the UK. It is the size of a bank card, which can be used as proof of identity, and to confirm the right to work or study in the UK and the right to access…

Communicating with a family following arrival

Community Sponsorship is all about communication, whether between you as a group or you and the family you support. Ensure a strong structure is in place at the outset following arrival and regularly review if this is working.  Make sure you have regular communication between your core group members ahead of the family arriving and in…

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…