Liz is a member of East Dunbartonshire Welcomes, a Community Sponsorship group in Scotland that has resettled two refugee families through the scheme. She shares what drew her to the work, the moments that have stayed with her, and why she believes community sponsorship is one of the most rewarding things a group can do.
What first motivated you to get involved in Community Sponsorship?
It started with a sort of general ‘what can we do?’ feeling. Do you remember when the little boy’s body was washed up on the shore in Greece? There was just that terrible feeling of helplessness, and we started a local group around 2015. By 2016 we were fundraising and raising awareness, and putting pressure on our local council to accept some Syrian families, which they hadn’t done up to that point.
The council did eventually agree to accept four Syrian families, and we got involved in supporting them — friendship, that kind of thing. After four years or so, those families were settling down and integrating well, and we started thinking, what do we do next? There was a push towards Community Sponsorship at that point, but we weren’t really sure we could do it. We’re very much an informal community group, not a recognised charity or anything like that.
So we looked into it, had some meetings, and a good number of people came forward who were really keen. We thought it was worth giving it a try. We raised money quickly, and we were very lucky with a local housing association. It really emerged out of that more general refugee support group asking itself, could we actually try Community Sponsorship? And then we discovered we could, so we gave it a go.
What was the response when you started fundraising and letting the community know you were welcoming a refugee family?
I think we’ve been quite lucky, though I’m not sure if we’re unusual. We cover quite a wide area, so it’s not one small, tight-knit community. The group is fairly dispersed; we all live in different places. So there wasn’t really a strong focus on any one particular area.
We got very positive reactions. For our fundraising we did a sponsored walk. We said we would walk the equivalent distance from Syria to Scotland. A number of us logged our miles and it made quite a good story. When we were out walking in our t-shirts, we’d hand out flyers to people we met. On one occasion, we stopped to chat with a family, and their little boy said he wanted to give all his pocket money and his birthday money to support us. We had moments like that all the time. People were so generous. I honestly didn’t come across any negative feeling about it at all.
Do you remember the moment you first met the Syrian family at the airport?
It seems like yesterday. They came through the airport and it was almost like they just wanted to keep their heads down and get out of there — quite matter of fact. But it must have been overwhelming for them. Such a change, and such a long journey. They’d actually come from Egypt, so they hadn’t come directly from Syria. There was a mother and father, and their son was about seven at the time.
The one thing he was desperate to see was a double-decker bus. He was absolutely dying to see one! And of course, just outside the airport, there it was. He was very happy.
How are the families doing now?
They’re very different from each other. The Syrian mother has difficulty with her eyesight, which makes going out quite hard, so they’re a fairly private family. Her English was good when they arrived, which was a real help, and her husband’s has improved a lot, though he still hasn’t found work as it’s taken time for his English to reach that level. Their son has done very well. He started secondary school this year and he’s getting on well.
The Afghan mother and daughter are much more extrovert and much keener to engage with both the local community and other Afghan people. The daughter immediately joined a kickboxing club, and this year she won a special award for the most improved member. She’s at college now and she really wants to get on, she has a whole list of things she wants to do with her life.
Her mother struggles with literacy, so things have been much harder for her. But she’s not afraid to go out and every Wednesday she goes to a warm space at a local church, just for a cup of tea and some company, and she’s happy to go on her own. We had a real milestone recently when she managed to go to the dentist by herself. That’s quite something when you can’t use Google Translate because you can’t read. We’ve always had to arrange interpreters and be there to make sure everything works. But she’s done it on her own the last couple of times. Her attitude throughout has been that coming to this country was really all about giving her daughter a better life and I have no doubt her daughter will seize every opportunity she gets.
What have you personally taken away from this experience?
Just that we’re all human beings and we share far more than what divides us. I’ve personally learned a great deal about Afghan and Syrian culture and way of life. And I think it makes you more aware of what’s going on in the world, when you know these families and where they’ve come from, you can’t help but pay closer attention.
Has the negative rhetoric around immigration in the media affected your group or the families you have welcomed?
It hasn’t affected us personally, and I don’t think the families have been directly affected either but we’re very conscious of it. Just last night we had a meeting to think about what comes next. Our local council has started accepting asylum seekers, and they’ve been asking us what we can do to help. We had someone come along from another group, not too far away, where there’s a really good support organisation. They have a hotel housing asylum seekers, and they’ve faced a lot of hostility. It’s been genuinely challenging for them.
We’re aware that if there’s a significant influx of asylum seekers into this area, they’ll likely end up where housing is cheaper, the same area where the two families we welcomed live. We worry about the potential for hostility to grow. Reform isn’t doing too badly in Scotland, and all of that is in the back of our minds. We’re hoping to show a film during the Scottish Refugee Festival, but we find ourselves wondering if this is going to attract a negative reaction? We shall see.
Are there any particular moments from your time with the families that have stayed with you?
Some of the things that stand out most are actually from the earlier days, when we were simply befriending the Syrian families the council had taken in. We had a fantastic evening with haggis and Scottish dancing, and then some of the Syrian men got up and did Syrian dancing. We also had a Halloween party, pumpkin carving, everyone in costume, everything.
There have been a few moments like that, where the families start to identify as Scottish — saying ‘I’m Scottish and Syrian’ or ‘I’m Scottish and Afghan.’ That always feels like something special.
What would you say to anyone thinking about getting into Community Sponsorship?
That it’s a deeply rewarding and interesting thing to do, and that you genuinely get as much from it as you give. You make real friends. You learn an enormous amount about other people and other ways of living.
I do think the climate has shifted since we started. Back then, the feeling was: we can bring one more family in, we can add to those who get the chance to come but it’s harder to make the case now. That’s exactly why stories like these need to be heard.
What do you wish more people understood about refugee resettlement?
There’s so much confusion about the differences between people who are asylum seekers, refugees, migrants — people don’t really understand the distinctions, and that muddies everything. Before I got involved, I only knew about it in a vague, general way myself. But seeing the process up close, watching people go through the five-year pathway and eventually apply for British citizenship, it’s genuinely moving. It’s a positive progression, and that’s what makes the current government direction so worrying. How can you help people resettle in such an unsettling environment?
I think of one of the Syrian boys our group supported. He joined the Scouts, and the next thing we knew, he was walking the West Highland Way with his Scottish friends. That felt like everything you’d hope for. And I worry now that moments like that are going to become harder to come by, and that people simply won’t feel safe enough to get there.
What’s next for your Community Sponsorship group?
That’s exactly what we’re trying to work out. Do we stick to Community Sponsorship and go for a third family? Or do we think about getting involved with supporting asylum seekers too?
There’s a real concern that if we take on asylum seeker support, it could absorb all our energy and leave us with no capacity for Community Sponsorship — which has been such a positive experience that it would make sense to do it again. The council has been organising meetings at the local library, bringing together voluntary sector groups who might be able to help with asylum seekers. We’re planning to go along to one of those, just to see who else is out there and whether there’s a natural role for us. But we might well welcome a third family yet!
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