‘It takes a town to raise a family’

The community sponsors who are helping to integrate refugees

- Diane Taylor

Shabana Mahmood wants to expand community sponsorship

“Our children correct us when we don’t pronounce some words with the proper Derbyshire accent,” said Samir*, an Afghan refugee whose family have settled into their new lives in the north of England.

Initially, he said, it was difficult for the family to adapt to rural life in Derbyshire but that after a while they had integrated so well his children, who have adopted the Derbyshire accent, teased him about his.

“Now our community is turning into a diverse community,” said Samir, who along with his family was relocated to the UK after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021.

Part of the ease with which they have settled is through help from a community sponsorship scheme. It provides refugees with wraparound support from a group of residents who agree to fundraise, source affordable accommodation and help with basic challenges such as learning English, accessing work, study or benefits and registering with a GP and dentist.

The government oversees the scheme, which is one of four different refugee resettlement programmes.

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, said last November that she hoped to develop the model further. “With control restored, we will open up new, capped routes for refugees for whom this country will be the first, safe haven they encounter,” she said. “We will make community sponsorship the norm, so we know that the pace and scale of change does not exceed what a local area is willing to accept.”

Sue Wall, part of the Ashbourne group supporting Samir and his family and other refugee families, said being a grandmother helped.