We were delighted to fund the VOICES Network to carry out a second phase of research with refugees resettled through Community Sponsorship into their experience of arriving in the UK. We believe this will offer Community Sponsorship groups a great deal of food for thought as they prepare to welcome families to the UK.
Participants from sponsored refugee families came together online to participate in workshops run by the VOICES Network with a special focus on the experience of women and older people. We provided a supermarket voucher and certificate of participation (co-produced by the VOICES Network) to everyone who took part.
We would encourage you to read Phase 2 of the report and the initial report in conjunction with one another as this will offer a comparison of experience and feedback, reminding us that everyone’s experience and recommendations will be different, and that taking a person-centred approach to supporting individuals is key.
We commissioned this research to find out what Reset and Community Sponsorship groups can do better so that we can improve the experience of resettlement for refugees in the future. Participants shared their experiences to help us to do this. We really value their honesty and their willingness to share their feedback.
The report found that:
We are taking time to reflect on these findings, and will be following up with our next steps.