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Former head teacher Ellie Stacey is one of our pioneering Community Sponsors, having played a key role in building groups in Bude and Falmouth. Here Ellie tells us how volunteering helped her embrace retirement – and how inspired she feels by the power and potential of Community Sponsorship.
“Retirement was a big change. My husband and I had had very busy and all-consuming work lives, so stopping suddenly required a huge adjustment. We moved from Oxford to Bude in Cornwall and I immediately started looking for things to get involved with whilst we settled in.
The refugee crisis was in the news constantly in 2015. There were so many images of people walking across Europe – so much sadness. I saw a poster that said, ‘Are you concerned about the refugee crisis?’ I went along to a meeting in a church and that’s when my involvement in refugee resettlement really began. I joined what became the Bude Refugee Support group.
There were already lots of collections of clothes and blankets, but we wanted to do more. We wanted to find out whether Cornwall would resettle some refugees. Traditionally Cornwall is known for its big welcomes, and we felt it could be a place of sanctuary – we just had to encourage the County Council to take up that mantle.
We had lots of people with lots of ideas – lots of energy that needed harnessing. I was probably too close to my old job at that point because I said, ‘Shall I write a development plan?’ From there we started working out how we’d do things, from where the family might live to where the children might go to school.
When the Home Office started exploring the idea of Community Sponsorship, they asked us to get involved. It was quite fun to be pioneering with it – to say, “Why don’t we try to do it that way?” We were one of the first five groups in the UK to resettle a family, with the first family arriving in summer 2017.
Ironically, after all this work to settle a family in Bude, my husband and I realised we weren’t that settled in Bude! We wanted to live somewhere with better transport links to my family in London and a bit more going on. We ended up in a village near Falmouth and I joined a Community Sponsorship group that was just getting started – Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugees. I said, “I’ll help – I’ve done this before!”
Last week I met with other volunteers at the house we’ve got ready for the second family. Just being there and realising the potential that house offers the family made me feel quite giddy. Knowing that they are coming to a place where they can lock the front door and feel safe, where their children can be educated and where they can build a future for themselves – that’s really powerful
My life has been eventful but I’ve never had it terribly tough. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had no power and no choices. I’ve never had to flee my home. I’ve never really been frightened. I think it’s quite amazing how the refugee families I’ve met have lived through all that and have learned to recover from it. Their optimism and positivity is extraordinary.
I’ve got a huge amount out of volunteering. Having had my head so firmly stuck in education, I think I needed to reset myself. And when you do good things for others, it really does give you a warm glow. You also get to meet like-minded people from different walks of life that you might not have had the chance to meet otherwise.
I’m quite driven by the concept of doing good. I’m not particularly religious but I think there’s a lot of good in people – and Community Sponsorship is a real opportunity to bring it out.”
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Read all news and insight from our initiatives
See coverage of Reset UK in the press and media
Find out how Community Sponsorship helps refugee families in need build a new life in the UK with confidence and dignity.
How do I sponsor a refugee family? How does the process work? Reset is here to support you every step of the way.
We’ve designed toolkits to make it easy for you if you’re involved as a lead sponsor or a local authority.
Wherever you are on the fulfilling and thrilling journey through Community Sponsorship, we have training courses, videos, articles and more, all designed to help your group and the family you support.
From drop-in sessions to UK-wide networking events, we bring together people and professionals involved in all stages of the Community Sponsorship journey.
Make a direct difference in the world by getting involved with your nearest Community Sponsorship group – or starting one up yourself!
Make an extraordinary difference to the lives of people who have lost everything by signing up to our (free) Landlords for Refugees register.
Not everyone can donate their time, so if you are choosing to donate money today instead or as well as, thank you. Your generosity is vital to the work we do support community-led welcome of refugees.
Help others by sharing your account. Why were you attracted to community-led welcome? What worked, what did you learn, what has the experience been like for you?
Reset empowers volunteers to welcome refugees into communities across the UK. Find out about us and the kinds of programmes we’ve been involved with.
Research, monitoring and evaluation are essential for making evidence-based decisions that will support Community Sponsorship to grow and flourish.
Sponsoring a refugee family is a significant responsibility. We advocate for Community Sponsors to ensure that they are properly supported throughout their journey.
Our advocacy focuses on representing the views of Community Sponsors to the Home Office to support them in implementing the necessary operational changes.
We also represent the views of Community Sponsors to other key stakeholders, including Local Authorities, international organisations, the wider resettlement field, housing providers and financial institutions. We also use our voice to campaign on policies affecting refugees. We are members of the Together With Refugees coalition, campaigning for a more humane approach to people seeking protection in the UK.
