Community Sponsorship of Refugees

What Is Community Sponsorship?

‘...I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me...’ – Matt. 25:35

‘May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary of Europe, take in one family’ – Pope Francis, September 2015.

Community Sponsorship is a way to welcome and resettle refugees, putting local communities at the heart of a family’s journey to a new life in the UK. The community assumes responsibility for a refugee family, from first arrival through to settled independence as part of their local community.

Up and down the country catholic parishes have formed community sponsorship groups and many have welcomed their first families.

Nugent is the lead sponsor and has supported four parishes in the Archdiocese of Liverpool to welcome Syrian families. These parishes are Bishop Eton Liverpool, St Anne’s Ormskirk, St Bartholomew Rainhill and South Liverpool Churches (which consist of the following parishes, St Anne’s Overbury Street, St Charles Aigburth and the Anglican parish of St James in the City.) and have welcomed and supported 18 people to settle into a new life here; 7 adults and 11 children.

How does the scheme work?

The two-year programme comprises three main elements: Housing – Funding – Support

Housing – Find and prepare a suitable, affordable family home

Funding – Raise a support fund to cover additional needs

Support – Plan and deliver a programme of resettlement support   

After security screening, medical checks and initial preparation about life in the UK, sponsored families arrive with full refugee status and the right to work, school places, free healthcare, English tuition (ESOL) and State benefits.

The scheme is inspired by a Canadian model which has successfully resettled around 300,000 refugees since it began in 1978.

How is it effective?

• Frequent and intensive support by a committed group of volunteers
• Families benefit from the rich social capital of a whole community
• Strong bonds of friendship, mutual understanding and empathy
• Shared motivation and commitment to successful resettlement

“The community sponsorship scheme personalises a huge, human drama, by enabling local communities to welcome and support refugees in a real and tangible way. This scheme opens a path for people to respond with compassion, providing welcome and integration, and should be taken up as widely as possible.” – Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

What can I do next?

A more detailed guide to the scheme is available – click here to download (pdf, 2mb).

To arrange a discussion about the scheme, and for any further information, please send an email to info@wearenugent.org

Prayer for Refugees

“Gracious God,
For every tear streaked child
For every voiceless mother
For every desperate father
For every homeless and stateless family
We cry out to you

For those slumped in despair
For those on their knees unable to take another step
For those who look and feel hunted and hopeless
For those who live in the desperate captivity of fear

Soften our hearts
Move us to action
Fill us with compassion
Let us be channels of your love.

Lord whose family had to flee a country
Lord who had nowhere to lay your head
Lord who weeps over the city
Lord have mercy

Move us to make a difference
To act with love and understanding
To offer hope and strengthen the weak
To put the needs of the broken above our own”
(from Scotland Refugee Appeal.)

Safeguarding

To report a safeguarding incident please click here to complete the form.