What is Community Sponsorship?

Community Sponsorship is a powerful way for ordinary people to make an extraordinary difference. It allows local groups like faith communities, schools, neighbourhood organisations, or simply friends and neighbours, to come together and welcome a refugee family or individual to the UK. 

The families or individuals often come from refugee camps or areas affected by conflict. They arrive with their legal status already in place, ready to begin a new chapter. What they need is what we all need: a safe place to call home, a sense of belonging, and the chance to rebuild their lives with dignity.

At a time when global displacement is at record levels, and safe routes to protection are increasingly limited, community-led welcome offers a hopeful, human response. It gives communities the tools to offer not just practical support like housing, language help, or navigating local services, but also friendship, trust, and a real sense of welcome.

This grassroots model doesn’t just change the lives of the families who are resettled. It also strengthens the communities that welcome them, showing what’s possible when people come together with compassion and purpose.