Community Sponsorship of Refugees
Community Sponsorship is a government programme enabling you to welcome refugees into your local area and support them as they rebuild their lives.
What is Community Sponsorship?
It is a refugee resettlement programme that allows communities to welcome refugees to their neighbourhoods. It is a practical way to welcome refugees by creating meaningful relationships between refugees and host communities. Through this programme, local groups can submit an application to the Home Office to sponsor a refugee family to come to the UK and help them rebuild their lives.
The scheme started in the UK in 2016. Since then, hundreds of refugees have now been sponsored across the UK all over the UK. In Canada, more than 300,000 refugees have been sponsored since 1979. Many other countries like Argentina, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, and Ireland have begun or piloted similar schemes.
What do Community Sponsors do?
Community Sponsorship Groups support refugees throughout their first year in the UK to:
- live independent lives in the UK
- access English lessons and schools
- access benefits
- access healthcare
- access employment
Before the family arrival, Community Sponsorship Groups will be working to source accommodation that will be available to the refugee family throughout their first 2 years in the UK. (Community Sponsorship Groups are not expected to cover the cost of renting the accommodation, as refugees will be able to claim housing benefits.)
Community Sponsorship is a significant responsibility but hugely rewarding. Throughout your journey you will be able to get training, support and advice to make sure that you're prepared to support a family.
What are the benefits of Community Sponsorship?
Community Sponsorship provides a safe and legal route for refugees to come to the UK. It is a practical way for local people to help resettling vulnerable refugee families. Community Sponsorship is a way for people to increase the number of refugees who can find safety in their local area. It increases the chances for the refugees to learn English, build connections and access jobs. Similarly, the Community Sponsorship transforms the local community as it helps creating bonds between local people.
Community Sponsorship in London
Community Sponsorship provides fresh opportunities for Londoners to come together around a common goal. It brings together the goodwill and expertise of a diverse range of Londoners including universities, local businesses, landlords, English language teachers, voluntary associations and faith groups.
London is the region with the highest number of Community Sponsorship Groups. Many refugees like Sam have been welcomed to London by Groups like Peckham Sponsor Refugees.
City Hall is working with a wide range of partners across London to help growing Community Sponsorship and support more refugees to be resettled in the capital.
Who can be a Community Sponsor?
Anyone can become a Community Sponsor. Sponsorship Groups have formed from neighbours, faith congregations, book clubs, sports teams, even a pub quiz team!
How can you get involved?
Under the Community Sponsorship scheme, anyone can start a local group and apply to sponsor a refugee family to find safety in the UK.
Reset Communities and Refugees is a charity that can help you throughout this journey. Please follow the link below:
Need a document on this page in an accessible format?
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of a PDF or other document on this page in a more accessible format, please get in touch via our online form and tell us which format you need.
It will also help us if you tell us which assistive technology you use. We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.