Global Sponsorship

Gathering 2023

Reset was delighted to attend the Global Sponsorship Gathering last month in Lisbon, Portugal. It was brilliant to be able to meet with our global partners and learn more about the sponsorship programmes they deliver. Find out more about the workshops Reset facilitated and key discussions.

Dame Sandra Horley Appointed Chief Executive

Reset is delighted to welcome Dame Sandra Horley as Chief Executive. She will be leading the charity through to the next stage of its development.

Born and raised in Canada, Sandra has more than four decades experience in the domestic abuse, social housing and homelessness sectors, including extensive housing management of refuge provision and community based services for homeless and abused women and children.

For 37 years Sandra was Chief Executive of Refuge, the national domestic abuse charity, supporting 7,000 victims and survivors every day. She grew a single shelter for abused women and children into a national charity.

Sandra is currently a board member of Bromford Housing Association in England. She is also a non-executive director of the Victims and Survivors Service Northern Ireland.

In 2021 Sandra was conferred a Damehood for her contribution to the protection of women and children and promoting greater understanding and awareness of domestic abuse.

On her appointment, Sandra said, “I am really excited to be joining Reset and continuing the important work started by my predecessor. My priorities include supporting the very talented team to ensure we continue to make the strongest case possible for community-led welcome and developing the business to ensure it is sustainable in the long term.”

Rich Bell, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said, “The fact that Reset has attracted someone of Dame Sandra’s calibre to be our Chief Executive is a testament to the work that Reset does. We are delighted to welcome her and look forward to moving Reset into the next stage of its development.”

English for
Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
Childcare Fund

Are any of the adults you support finding it difficult to attend English classes because of their childcare obligations?  Community Sponsorship groups can still apply for grants as part of Home Office’s ESOL Childcare Fund. You can find out how to apply for the funding here.

Spotlight on Experts by Experience

This section brings you resources based on interviews with the families welcomed to the UK. We are kicking off with Ghazala and Nidal who told us about their first six months after arrival. You can learn about their life in Lebanon, how the move to the UK felt and how they found their first winter in the UK.

Sign up for your Refugee Host Support Membership

To thank you for all that our hosts do in supporting Ukrainian refugees, we’ve teamed up with the organisation, Refugee Host Support, to provide memberships to hosts matched through Reset.

Your Partner Plan membership includes thousands of discount codes, podcasts, online networking with other hosts and mental health support, including counselling. If you’ve been matched through Reset, get in touch with us to get the link to sign up today.

Refugee Employability Programme

The new Refugee Employability Programme (REP) is now available to families welcomed through Community Sponsorship in England. Family members who are referred to the programme will gain access to personalised employment, English language and integration support. They will be allocated a case manager and create a Personal Development Plan based on their needs and goals.

Community Sponsorship Alliance

Community Sponsorship Alliance represents a diverse group of Lead Sponsors, Community Sponsorship groups, and people with lived experience of community-led resettlement. They have been working hard this year to promote and grow community-led welcome. To find out more about how they are advocating for safe routes, safe homes in safe communities, or to see how you can get involved head over to their website.

Upcoming Training

Reset is working to enhance our online learning platform to make more courses available to Community Sponsorship groups.

To supplement our existing Part 1: Planning your Application and Safeguarding Essentials training, we will be running valuable new courses in the New Year, including Trauma Informed Care: Supporting Refugee Families and Volunteer Wellbeing in Community Sponsorship.

Join us to combat those post-holiday blues!

What's coming up in January?

Our Homes for Ukraine training will start again on 10th January 2024 with our one hour session Is hosting right for you?, where we explore what the Homes for Ukraine scheme looks like, what it means to sponsor a person or family, and how it works in practice.

We also know that talking to guests about hosting coming to an end can be such a difficult topic. To help you with this we have designed a webinar focused on Planning for the end of hosting. This is a 90 minute interactive session designed to give you a space to ask questions and help to plan for the end of your hosting journey.

To find out more about any of our upcoming training and to book a space please visit our events page here.

Christmas Celebrations

With Christmas just days away, we have been looking back at Amira’s first experience of Christmas in the UK, arriving just three months before. Amira and Rashed were delighted as they watched their daughters immerse themselves in the school nativity. Read more about their story here.

Traditionally Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated on the 7th of January but more and more Ukrainians now celebrate on the 25th December. Read about Yuliia’s Christmas here.

Consultation Sessions

We now offer bespoke consultation sessions that Community Sponsorship groups can access whenever a significant issue arises.

These issues may include, but are not limited to, significant disagreements within the group, challenges around implementing boundaries, or domestic abuse within the family. Each consultation session offers in-depth intervention and is tailored specifically to the needs of the group and the family they support. The consultation may include reflective practice sessions, advisory sessions, training and tools, and planning next steps.