Could you tell me who you are and what group you’re attached to? 

My name is Asia. I’m based in Glasgow,and I’m connected with the Refugee Sponsorship Ibrox, which has been around since 2021. I got involved just a few months after the group formed and joined at the fundraising stage. That was really exciting, to see what everyone had started doing and to be involved from the beginning in some of the other fundraising efforts. And we’ve since welcomed one family to the Glasgow area, and it has been lovely, getting to know them. 

How did you first hear about Community Sponsorship?  

I’m actually a dual citizen, I’m Canadian and my mom lives in Nova Scotia, and in Canada, they’re quite a high number of community sponsorship groups in general. I’d also heard of them from, you know, my studies. I studied Social and Cultural anthropology, and I looked at the experience of East African people seeking asylum in the South of Tel Aviv, which was a difficult situation then, and it still is now, and one that I think a lot of people aren’t familiar with. And I also work with two different charities in Glasgow, looking at migration issues.  

But I hadn’t started working in the sector yet and I was going to visit my mom and when I was at the airport, I was coming out of the baggage area into like the main area and there was a group of people holding all of these like Canadian flags and welcome signs. A massive banner just saying ‘Welcome to Nova Scotia’. And I realised that this was a Community Sponsorship group welcoming a family who came out right behind me. And I saw that the family was behind me, looking a bit overwhelmed. To think of the confusion of airport arrivals and there they were coming out into such a big welcome. I just remember realising what it was and thinking wouldn’t it be such an amazing thing, to reach that moment where you get to welcome somebody and hold space for them in that time that they’re entering a whole new situation. They maybe don’t speak the language. But they had a warm welcome at the airport, and I thought that was just really important. So, I was like as soon as I moved to Glasgow in 2021, I was like I need to find a group myself. 

And how did you go about that? 

It was actually through Reset’s website, and I was looking at the Scotland groups and there was just one. And I still think we’re the only group in Glasgow who’s sponsored a family. But that was the one that I was connected with, and someone from Reset helped me send a message to the chair of the group turned out to be Rachel, who’s now a really good friend. 

What would you say to somebody who wanted to get involved with Community Sponsorship, why should they get involved basically? 

I mean, there are so many reasons, but what I always say is it’s really such a tailored and personalised unique way to welcome a family, especially a family with kids, and who have other issues they need to have met. And having worked in the sector with people seeking asylum and with other people who have sought refuge in the UK through other schemes or means. It’s a totally different situation for them. I think being able to create that tailored welcome for a family is just so important, and you can really see the value of it for them. You feel the value of it for yourself. It does feel good to get to know a family and make sure that they have what they need and that they’re connected with a GP, with schools or simply just getting to know what will become their neighbourhood. That’s really rewarding on both sides. What I usually try to explain to people who maybe don’t have as much knowledge of the immigration system or the asylum system is that one of the big selling points of Community Sponsorship is that the people who are sponsored are outside of the quota. So you’re getting to bring in someone who wouldn’t have had a chance otherwise, at least in a particular year. So, to me, those things are really important. 

And do you think that there’s a benefit to the connection that you’ve made with other people, not just the family, but other people in the community & connecting in that way? 

When I arrived three years ago, I didn’t really know anyone at the time I had one connection in the whole city. So, to kind of get introduced to a group of people who have lived in Glasgow for years, they know the city really well. They have other connections and families here. It was like joining a family. Then we all had like, the same goal in mind of working to be able to sponsor another family and now we just have a massive group of people who are happy to have found each other.