Share
Amira, Rashed and their three daughters arrived in Northern Ireland in September 2019, where they were welcomed by the Small World Community Sponsorship group. With Christmas just a couple of weeks away we thought we would talk to Amira about her first Christmas in the UK. She shares her surprise at her daughters’ star turns and why she thinks getting involved in each other’s festivities is so important.
Just three months after Amira and her husband Rashed arrived in the UK they were watching their daughters on stage at the school nativity play. They couldn’t believe their eyes or their ears: “Hala and Seba had roles in the play. It was Seba’s first time doing anything like this and she was there singing in English, and wearing a Queen’s dress. I was surprised. We didn’t think it was our daughter!” says Amira.
The couple had not been too sure about attending the play. “To be honest I was scared a lot because of my English but the reason we decided to go was because Jeni and Heather and the rest of the Community Sponsorship group were going and they encouraged us. We had never seen anything like this!”
The school nativity play was just one of many festive traditions the family experienced that first year. They attended carol concerts at the church, the neighbours brought presents and they tried their first mince pies. “My daughter loves them.”
The extent to which Christmas takes over was a bit of a surprise: “We were aware that Christmas was a thing here, but we didn’t know it would be this big and people do all these things for it. We used to see people celebrate it back in Syria but it isn’t this big with the lights and the trees and everything else.”
The family were as keen to share their religious festivals with Whitehead as Whitehead had been to teach them all about Christmas. “By the time of Ramadan Covid was here so we couldn’t have it together but the group would knock and leave juice and dates and things on our doorstep. I made Eid biscuits for the neighbours and they bought presents for the kids. Our neighbours are very nice, so then after that anytime there’s a celebration, whether it was Eid or Christmas or whatever it was, they would come up for a visit.”
Find out how you can welcome a refugee family to your neighbourhoood
Share
Give your opinion about our latest poll below or perhaps you’ve a great story we should be covering.
Explore Reset’s impact as we have supported the Community Sponsorship movement across the UK— training, mobilising, and supporting community groups to open their doors to those who need it most.
Reset’s values not only define who we are as an organisation, but how we show up for the communities we serve.
Reset’s Theory of Change sets out what needs to happen for community-led welcome to succeed and the role Reset plays in making that happen.
Research, monitoring and evaluation are essential for making evidence-based decisions that will support Community Sponsorship to grow and flourish.
Find out how Community Sponsorship helps refugee families in need build a new life in the UK with confidence and dignity.
Understanding migration is essential for anyone getting involved in Community Sponsorship. Build your foundational knowledge of migration here.
Read all news and insight from our initiatives
See coverage of Reset UK in the press and media
Make an extraordinary difference to the lives of people who have lost everything by signing up to our (free) Landlords for Refugees register.
Not everyone can donate their time, so if you are choosing to donate money today instead or as well as, thank you. Your generosity is vital to the work we do support community-led welcome of refugees.
Help others by sharing your account. Why were you attracted to community-led welcome? What worked, what did you learn, what has the experience been like for you?
