As you welcome and support families into your communities, one of the key areas of focus will be the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes. Adult members of the family are required to attend eight hours of ESOL classes per week. We realise that physically attending these classes isn’t always easy – and…
Articles tagged with: Empowerment
Experts by Experience: Rawasia and her experience of resettlement
Navigating resettlement as a teenager can be full of extremely difficult challenges, including losing friends, losing your education and losing your home. On top of this, you are contending with starting a new life in a host country you may not feel at home in, or feel wanted in. This has been Rawasia’s experience, one…
Experts by Experience: Resettlement as a single parent
Making the journey firstly from your home country to a host country, and then to another country via resettlement, is a hard undertaking for any family – and one that becomes even more difficult as a single parent. The reassurance there is in being able to turn to your partner in such a situation, and…
Adopting an empowerment approach to ILtR applications
For families who arrive before winter 2021, they will have been given the right to live and work here for 5 years. Once the family members have been in the UK for 4 years and 11 months, they will need to submit an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILtR). The application process is carried out…
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…
Creating informal English learning opportunities
As refugee families are learning formal ESOL in the classroom, you can play a vital role by encouraging them to make use of all the great ways they can improve their English skills through more informal routes at home. The following suggestions are both practical and easy to incorporate – while also helping to change…
Designing a pathway into employment
Employment provides a fantastic route to integration, helps people to improve their language skills and social networks, and of course provides greater wellbeing and financial independence for individuals. However, refugees can face barriers to obtaining employment which you may need to help them overcome. It is important that both you and the person you support…
Developing an empowerment approach to managing utility bills
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…
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…
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: 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…
Managing financial disappointment
For most refugees, integration and financial security are interlinked, especially when they are resettled to a relatively wealthy country like the UK. Refugees will have also heard rumours from their networks about the UK and other countries that may lead them to believe that resettlement equates to not having to worry about money. Many Groups…
Preparing Families for the British education system
Although all schools, Community Sponsorship Groups, parents and children are different, there are many similarities in the way in which school impacts on all families in the UK. Whilst Community Sponsorship Groups will have identified those within the team who have experience in education to prepare schools and support a family, it is important to…
Preparing for uncomfortable conversations
When the resettled family you support arrives there are some key conversations you’ll need to have, and some topics will arise that may feel a little awkward. Uncomfortable conversations will happen, but they don’t have to be embarrassing or catch you off guard. Be confident that it’s ok to have them as the family’s wellbeing and integration…
Providing a tenancy agreement
When you are searching for suitable accommodation for the family you will welcome through Community Sponsorship, you should think through how you will ensure the family feel ownership of the property. Whether you are renting a property directly with a private landlord, or purchasing the property, it’s essential that a tenancy agreement is in place between…
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…
Accessing digital services
Accessing services and details online will be essential for the family you support. From registering for and managing their benefits through to connecting with friends and family across the world, developing IT skills will only be helpful. We like to remind Groups that success in Community Sponsorship is when resettled families are able to do…
Adopting an empowerment approach to housing provision
This resource will help your Group support refugees to understand their housing obligations to foster independence and empowerment as renters in the future. The family you support as a Community Sponsorship Group will include adults who have lived independent lives. They’ll have been making choices for themselves and their families for a long time. When it…
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…
Briefing and debriefing interpreters
Preparing interpreters for the likely content of an appointment will help them do their job to the best of their ability. It can help them prepare for the language that is likely to be used, and give them context which will help them to interpret words accurately. It is also useful to allow time after the…