Reflections on preparing to welcome a refugee family
Life changing conversations can happen while you are walking your dog! Here Alice from Forest Hill & Sydenham Welcome Refugees tells us how she first got involved Community Sponsorship and shares her experiences of getting to know her group and preparing to welcome their family.
“When people say, ‘Why are you helping refugees? Won’t they be sent back?’, I’m ready with the facts.”
Carol is a volunteer with CHARIS Exeter, a Community Sponsorship group in Devon. Here she tells us how Reset boosted her confidence and gave her insights into what refugee families might have been through before arriving in the UK.
“We tried to make the house into a home”
Ruth’s Community Sponsorship group recently welcomed a refugee family to Ripon. Here she tells us about getting the house ready, stocking the fridge with familiar foods, and organising a tea party with the family’s new neighbours.
“It’s important for me to tell them that people will accept them and they will have freedom here.”
Khadeja and her family were the first family to be welcomed to North Devon by the Pickwell Foundation, almost five years ago. Khadeja now works for the Pickwell Foundation, helping to support other refugee families arriving in the UK through Community Sponsorship. Here she tells us why this job is so important to her.