“I was completely shocked as it was raining in the summer.”
Khalid had been offered the opportunity to resettle in America and in Canada but he had declined both, so keen was he to be able to return home to Syria. His children had been so disappointed that when he received a third phone call he didn’t even wait for the caller to finish their sentence before saying ‘yes we will travel’. Here he talks to us about his fears before travel, the warm welcome and how Cardiff now feels like home.
“They gave me hope.”
Zahar and Lena arrived in a small market town in Lincolnshire just as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. At first they wanted to leave as quickly as possible and move to a bigger, more diverse city. But now they say they wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and are volunteering with their Community Sponsorship group to welcome another family to the area.
“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.
Now I realised the real greatness of community groups.
Khalid, his wife and their four children settled in Cardiff in 2019. Before his first Ramadan in the UK, Khalid was worrying about what to expect. Here he explains how the experience was actually a breakthrough moment for him in feeling welcomed and supported.
Our duty to our neighbours beyond the UK will still exist when we emerge from this pandemic.
ackie McLoughlin, founder of the Sutton Deanery Community Sponsorship Group, was awarded Maundy Money in an 800-year-old tradition which sees people doing outstanding work in their communities recognised by the reigning monarch on Maundy Thursday. Jackie tells us what Community Sponsorship means to her and why she believes that more people should be sponsoring refugees.
They have been with us every step of the way
Ghazala was resettled in London with her husband and their two daughters. She told us how her Community Sponsors have supported her during her first 6 months in the UK, and how she’s giving back to the community.
They’re like another family now
Ali is a Palestinian refugee who was born and raised in Lebanon. A trained nurse, he’s come to the UK to work for the NHS. Ali was welcomed to his new home in Doncaster by a group of local people as part of the Neighbours for Newcomers programme for refugee nurses. Here Ali tells us what this opportunity means to him, how his new neighbours have welcomed him, and how he’s learning the Yorkshire accent.
We felt safe
When asked how he and wife Amira felt when they arrived in Northern Ireland in September 2019, Rashed simply says: “We felt safe.” The couple and their daughters were welcomed to Whitehead by the Small World Community Sponsorship Group. Here they share their memories of the first few days.
It’s really special knowing that hundreds of people in Ripon have donated so that a refugee family can find safety here
We tried to make the house into a home
