“It’s really special knowing that hundreds of people in Ripon have donated so that a refugee family can find safety here.”
Community Sponsorship groups are required to raise £9000 to resettle a refugee family. Ruth Foulds leads the Ripon City of Sanctuary Community Sponsorship group. They’ve raised more than £6000 so far. Here she tells us how they’ve approached fundraising.
“I think there’s a lot of good in people and Community Sponsorship is a real opportunity to bring it out.”
Former head teacher Ellie Stacey is one of our pioneering Community Sponsors, having played a key role in building groups in Bude and Falmouth. Here Ellie tells us how volunteering helped her embrace retirement – and how inspired she feels by the power and potential of Community Sponsorship.
“Helping this family has been a big turning point in my life.”
After a long career in early years education and family support, Carol was ready to make the most of her retirement. Then, very suddenly, her husband Mike became unwell. He was diagnosed with cancer and passed away just six months later. Here Carol shares her memories of that difficult time and describes how volunteering with her local Community Sponsorship group gave her life a new purpose.
“I know the importance of having a community – not just one person – but a community who is prepared to make that transition easier for you.”
Sofia Gamio is a junior doctor working at the James Cook hospital in Middlesbrough. In the little spare time she has, Sofia is preparing to welcome refugee families to Newcastle with her Community Sponsorship group, Tyneside Welcomes. Ahead of International Migrants Day, we chatted to Sofia about where her motivation for supporting refugees comes from, and how she got involved in Community Sponsorship.
“Although being thanked was never our main motivation on some level we did expect gratitude”
A volunteer acknowledges that she expected gratitude from the refugee family that her Group supports. She examines the roots of these expectations and explains how she came to understand her role better once she confronted these expectations.