It takes a village to welcome a family.

We are a Community Sponsorship group centred in Hassocks and extending to Hurst, Keymer & Ditchling. We are supporting a refugee family and helping them settle into our community.

Hello… 

We are a group of volunteers who have been working since March 2021 to welcome a refugee family into our community and offer them a fresh start here under the Community Sponsorship scheme. 

Following an 18 month fund and awareness raising campaign, and with the extraordinary support of the local community, we welcomed the family in September 2022. 

The project is now busy with a fantastic pool of volunteers helping the family as they learn English, start school, and generally adapt to life in the UK.  

Community Sponsorship

Community Sponsorship is a scheme set up by the government in 2016 which enables the resettlement of refugees. 

Drawing on a very successful Canadian model, there are over 150 such groups across the UK now; ordinary people who have come together to enable the resettlement of a family. To date, Community Sponsorship groups across the UK have successfully resettled nearly 500 refugees into local communities.

The work of the group involves fundraising to cover resettlement costs, finding good quality affordable accommodation, and building a local network of volunteers within the community, who support the family throughout their first year in the UK.

Project Newsletters

Read more about the project’s progress and what’s coming up…

SDRP Project Newsletter #8. July 2022

SDRP Project Newsletter #8. July 2022

A quick update on June’s newsletter to confirm that the final pieces of the jigsaw seem to have now fallen into place, and we are working to a specific date in Autumn for the arrival of the family!

Donate to SDWP

SDWP will be supporting the family for a minimum of two years as they adjust to life in the UK, learn English and ultimately look for work. 

If you would like to contribute to this on-going work then please donate via our Just Giving page.

 

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