Community sponsorship: Enabling locals to welcome families into their community
Community Sponsorship is a scheme which enables ordinary citizens to help refugees settle into a new country by raising funds and assisting with logistics like housing, education, and healthcare. We heard from one group in Ibrox about the difference it makes.
By Rhiannon Davies | Illustration by Seán Casey
In July and August, we watched in horror as racist and Islamophobic riots raged across towns and cities in other parts of the UK. While there were warnings about the potential of unrest coming to Glasgow, we were thankful that – apart from a couple of isolated incidents and an underwhelming ‘pro UK’ rally – we didn’t see the same level of disturbance here.
Many people felt powerless watching it and wanted to know what more they could do. Some communities in Glasgow are already making a huge difference through the community sponsorship scheme.
Community sponsorship empowers citizens to help refugees rebuild their lives by providing housing, education, and healthcare support. Introduced in the UK in 2016, this initiative is part of a global movement reshaping narratives around asylum seekers. We spoke with Asia Hart-Eason from the Ibrox Community Sponsorship group to learn more.
Community sponsorship enables ordinary citizens to help refugees settle into a new country by raising funds and assisting with logistics like housing, education, and healthcare. There are versions of it happening in countries around the world, and it was introduced into the UK by the Home Office in 2016.
Through agreements with their governments, sponsors take on responsibilities to support refugees who have often spent months or years in countries that are unsafe or where they cannot live with dignity. This local effort contributes to a global movement, reshaping the narrative around asylum seekers, even in challenging environments.
We spoke to Asia Hart-Eason who is part of the Ibrox Community Sponsorship group…
What made you want to get involved with community sponsorship?
I learned about community sponsorship after seeing a group welcome a family at an airport in Canada. Seeing the family have such an individualised, warm welcome struck me immediately as important. I was about to move to Scotland, where I didn’t yet have a community myself, and found the organisation Reset after a Googling session. Reset helps budding community sponsorship groups throughout the process and keeps providing advice after the sponsored family arrives to the UK. They can also connect individuals with existing groups – which is how I got connected with Refugee Sponsorship Ibrox!
What has been the most rewarding parts of the process?
Without a doubt, the most rewarding part of the process has been building a friendship with the family we sponsored. It has been a pure delight to help give them the welcome that everyone seeking safety deserves. However, this is closely followed by the relationships I have built within the group. Three years from when I first moved to Glasgow, I can happily say that it feels like being part of a family.
What about the challenges?
I won’t lie – undergoing the Community Sponsorship process is by no means easy. Fundraising the required £9000, finding a flat for the family, and overcoming hurdles during the family’s first few months in the UK were all significant challenges. It requires efficient communication, creativity, and the ability to build trust, among many other things. However, everything is simplified just by virtue of having a well-balanced, motivated sponsorship group and support from organisations like Reset and Citizens UK.
What have you learned from being part of this?
I have learned so much about the process itself – explaining Community Sponsorship to someone who has never heard of it before comes super easily. I have also learned how to address comments like, “But it’s just one family” or “I don’t have professional knowledge of this area so I don’t feel I would be able to do it.”
As someone working with people seeking asylum who have not been sponsored by a community, it is incredibly easy to see how different the experience of coming to the UK is for them. No smiling faces at the airport, no support to learn English or with getting their children into school, and often no friend to turn to when things get overwhelming. Being part of Refugee Sponsorship Ibrox has given me a vision of how things could be – how people seeking sanctuary could be welcomed into a society. It is an incredibly hopeful message to receive.
What would you say to anyone thinking about doing it?
Most of all, I would say go for it! You will not be alone. I don’t know a single other community sponsorship group in the UK that wouldn’t offer to give advice over a call, bolster you when things feel difficult, or celebrate successes. I can at least say that Refugee Sponsorship Ibrox is here to support and cheer you on. This process is not insurmountable –it has been done many times over and, with any luck, will continue to be done for many years to come.
Some things you can do to help
Learn how to greet people in different languages. Check out our multicultural small talk pull out guide from Issue 8.
Provide donations and write letters of support for newly arrived people via Refuweegee.
Volunteer at Milk’s English language conversation cafe.
Write to your MP in support of providing safe asylum routes and better conditions and integration support.
Make a donation to the Scottish Refugee Council or other local charities that support refugees and asylum seekers
Sign up to host someone seeking shelter through Positive Action in Housing’s Room for Refugees Programme.
Join the Glasgow No Evictions Network to inform yourself of what can be done if you see an immigration raid.
Get a group together to start a Community Sponsorship scheme.
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