The development to the Community Sponsorship scheme would not have been possible without the incredible work of Community Sponsorship Groups, including those who have already welcomed refugee families, and those who are readying themselves and applying to the Home Office to do so. Whether they’re made up of friends, neighbours, colleagues or even strangers who had never met before, these Groups have changed the shape of refugee resettlement in the UK by putting their time, effort and commitment into making Community Sponsorship a success to date. Their passion to do something practical to help refugees by using their skills, experience and knowledge is at the very heart of Community Sponsorship.

A new Community Sponsorship scheme, starting next year

Under the new scheme, all refugees supported to resettle through Community Sponsorship will be ‘additional’ to the government target. This means that they will be above and beyond, rather than part of, the government’s resettlement numbers

The scheme will be extended to have a broader global focus, allowing flexibility to respond to humanitarian crises

The Home Office will be seeking views on the implementation of the new scheme following the announcement.

These changes are exciting, but it’s worth noting that if you are currently preparing to apply or have applied to the Home Office, these changes will not affect your application or the process to receiving a family through Community Sponsorship. There will be no change to the application form in the short term and, in terms of your preparations for language support and interpreters, to begin with most refugees will continue to come from the Middle-East and be Arabic speaking. In due course, as refugees from a wider range of countries of origin are resettled under the Community Sponsorship scheme, Reset will adapt the training and support we offer to Community Sponsorship Groups. In the meantime, please carry on with the great work that you are doing to prepare to welcome a refugee family.