We are a group of individuals who feel strongly that we should do something practical to help a refugee family displaced by the Syrian crisis. We have been working together since April 2017, in liaison with Citizens UK, to bring a Syrian refugee family to Penarth via the Community Sponsorship scheme that is administered by the Home Office. Families arriving via this scheme are chosen and screened by the United Nations.
In order to do this we had to complete a detailed application showing that we have met the required criteria. This application was approved by the local authority in May 2018, approved by the home office in July, a family selected for us in August and the family arrived in Penarth in September 2018. The team are required to support the family for 2 years, assisting with English lessons, job finding, health needs and community integration, however it is clear that the friendships already formed will survive past the 2 years support required by the Home Office.
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What is community Sponsorship?
Until 2016 families resettled from Syria to Britain were done so Via the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme or VPRS. Local authorities provide housing, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and support for the families. Community Sponsorship is different. Community groups come together to provide the support otherwise provided by the local authority. This has the added benefit of providing the resettled family with a community support network, helping them to integrate and providing them with more long term support.
More information can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-sponsorship-how-you-can-make-it-happen
This video explains a little about the scheme
We are a member of Citizens Cymru who are our Lead Sponsors. This means we have been working under the umbrella of their charitable status. It is not required by the Home Office that we become a Charity, however, we are now in a position to complete the application to gain charitable status. This will enable us to claim Gift Aid on future donations.