Understand the training that refugees coming to the UK receive prior to departure
All refugees arriving through the Community Sponsorship programme will receive preparation training in their country of asylum prior to arriving in the UK. This training is run by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), takes place across 3 days and is delivered through a variety of methods. You will find it useful to understand what the family should know prior to arrival, but you should keep in mind that it’s a lot of information to take in whilst you are preparing for resettlement!
At the time of writing, IOM are delivering pre-departure training through a variety of methods, so we recommend ensuring you make time to make the family you welcome aware of the materials IOM will use.
The curriculum followed by IOM to prepare people to arrive in the UK covers:
| Unit | What is covered |
|---|---|
| 1. Introduction to UK Cultural Orientation | Refugees are welcomed and introduced to UKCO, housekeeping rules are presented. How to greet people in English is covered and the message that learning English is important for successful resettlement is stressed. Trainers ask participants what they already know about the UK and what they want to know. |
| 2. Introduction to the UK | An overview of the UK, its geography, countries, languages, holidays, seasons, climate, religion, political system and UK flag is covered. |
| 3. Pre-departure and travel | Provides a clear idea of the journey to the UK and provides additional information about their resettlement. Handouts on family reunion, travel outside the UK and an overview of the journey to the UK, developed by the UK Home Office, are available. |
| 4. Legal Status and Post-Arrival Services in the UK | This unit provides the participants with essential information on their legal status in the UK and informs them of the services and support that they will receive on arrival. |
| 5. Employment | This unit provides participants with an overview of working in the UK. It provides them with information on entering the job market, the challenges they might encounter and the support they will receive. |
| 6. Housing and Benefits | Provides participants with information on the kind of accommodation that will be provided in the UK. This helps participants manage their expectations about the housing they will be allocated to. The unit also covers welfare benefits. |
| 7. Education | Participants are given an overview of the education system in the UK. They will learn about how schools are organised and details such as term dates and religious education. |
| 8. Law and Domestic Violence | Provides participants with an overview of their legal rights and responsibilities in the UK. It gives a snapshot of legal and illegal behaviours, and acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. Through a series of scenarios, the seriousness of domestic violence is addressed. |
| 9. Health | Covers important aspects of healthcare provision in the UK. It provides information on the National Health Service (NHS) and the different points of access. |
| 10. Cultural Adaptation | Enables participants to consider what attitudes, skills and knowledge adjustments they will need to make their resettlement successful. The aim is to help participants strengthen existing positive attitudes to resettlement, and to identify attitudes that will need to be worked on. |
Welcome to the UK Booklets
These guides, produced by the Home Office in 2019 will be provided to the family, and you will find it useful to access these. Please note that some of the information contained in these may be out of date.
- Access the welcome to the UK booklet for adults which goes into further details about life in the UK in both English and Arabic
- Booklets for children and young people
We also have access to the videos which families will see during their training and we can provide access to these. Please contact us for access.