“As the Lead Sponsor we are like the trunk of a tree and each group we support is like one of the tree’s branches”
Tyneside Welcomes started out as a small group of volunteers with no single political or faith-based affiliation. As a group they resettled one Syrian refugee family in their neighbourhood and set up as a Lead Sponsor so that they can work with a broader network of people across Tyneside to resettle other refugee families. Members Richard Young and Lindsay Brigham tell their Lead Sponsor story.
“As Lead Sponsors we strengthen the bonds that tie us together by supporting groups to welcome refugees”
The Pickwell Foundation is a grant making charity based in North Devon. Two families set up the foundation in 2012. It gives small to medium sized grants, by invitation, to charities that are working either with displaced people or in the area of climate change. A central part of its work is as a Lead Sponsor for community sponsorship groups in the North Devon area. Susannah Baker from the foundation tells their story.
“Becoming a Lead Sponsor was a logical next step in terms of scaling up our impact”
Caritas Salford works as a Lead Sponsor for groups across the North West, mainly within two dioceses: Salford and Lancaster. To date, Caritas Salford has welcomed eleven families with the help of eleven groups. Anais Fahd, Community Sponsorship Development Coordinator, Caritas Salford, tells their story.