Forest Hill & Sydenham Welcome Refugees (FHSWR) is a group of local residents of Forest Hill and Sydenham who have decided to work together towards the community sponsorship of a refugee family.

Globally, there are now over 65 million people who have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict, persecution or human rights violations. Over 25 million of these are official refugees, 5.5 million of whom have fled the war in Syria and are suffering the loss, discomfort, uncertainty and indignity of being homeless in a foreign country.

‘Community sponsorship’ is an official Government scheme run by
the Home Office. It is a way for local communities to be directly involved in helping refugees settle in the UK.

Numerous local groups have already successfully welcomed displaced families into the heart of their community and we want to be part of this wonderful initiative.

As community sponsors, we will commit to provide emotional and
practical support to empower a resettled family to rebuild their lives and to become self-sufficient members of their new community.  This will include:

•       finding appropriate housing

•       providing a warm welcome and cultural orientation

•       supporting access to medical and social services

•       support to access education and English language tuition

•       help to navigate social welfare provision

•       support towards employment and self-sufficiency

The family will be either refugees from the Syrian conflict who are stuck in camps or cities in the Middle East, or will be ‘at risk’ children and their family members who have fled conflicts in the Middle East or North African regions.

In June 2019 the Government announced that families who are
resettled through community sponsorship will be counted in addition to government resettlement numbers.

In order for our application to the Home Office to be accepted, we needed to raise a minimum of £9000 all of which will go towards the cost of setting up a home and providing for the family before they have fully integrated into UK society.

Thanks to our many kind supporters, we have reached that target and secured a suitable property. However, we still need funds to provide any extras the family may need, for example baby equipment, English lessons, laptops etc and contingency for any emergency.

We have submitted our application to the Home Office so now are quite close to being allocated a refugee family. Please donate anything you can to ensure the family has a smooth a transition as possible to a better life.

FHSWR are affiliated with Sponsor Refugees, a project of Citizens UK, who exist to promote Community Sponsorship of Refugees, and to support groups through each step of the sponsorship process.

Funds raised on this page will go directly to Citizens UK who will pass them on to us at FHSWR (with added gift-aid if the donor is a UK tax-payer).

All donations will be gratefully received and if you are interested in helping us in any other way, please get in touch – we would love to hear from you!

FHSWelcomesrefugees@gmail.com

Instagram and Twitter: FHSWR

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