The International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) has partnered with Sponsor Refugees, a branch of Citizens UK, to celebrate and expand community sponsorship of refugees in the UK.
Sponsor Refugees has announced that IOHR will be the official sponsor of the Community Sponsorship Awards, which will take place on October 2nd 2018.
The partnership will expand on IOHR’s #BeARefugeeSponsor campaign, which aims to emulate the long-running Canadian model for community sponsorship of refugees and further establish this system in the UK. The Community Sponsorship scheme provides communities the opportunity to support the resettlement of Syrian refugee families in the UK by providing financial, emotional and practical support.
“IOHR is delighted to partner with Sponsor Refugees to create these important awards.” said IOHR Director Valerie Peay.
“The future success of resettlement of refugees in the UK depends on the work of dedicated community groups, coming together to enable refugees to build their new life. We wanted to recognise these trailblazers who are doing such amazing work and encourage others to take up this noble cause and spread the knowledge in their local communities.”
For the launch of #BeARefugeeSponsor campaign in February 2018, IOHR invited to London Canadian experts and refugees resettled in Canada to speak on the benefits of community sponsorship and discuss potential pathways.
The initiative lobbies policy-makers in the UK to allow more flexibility to allow British businesses, universities and communities to sponsor refugees.
Previously IOHR TV interviewed Bekele Woyecha, the Senior Project Manager of Sponsor Refugees, who discussed the ways in which community sponsorship was expanding throughout the UK.
On the 7th of May 2018, the initiation of the new National Community Sponsorship Awards was announced in St. George’s Cathedral at the annual Migrants’ Mass.
The leader of the Migrants’ Mass stated, “The first awards ceremony will take place, here in London, on the 2nd October this year in partnership with the International Observatory of Human Rights.”
Officially sponsored by IOHR, the awards will celebrate more than 100 community sponsorship groups that are calling for the expansion of the scheme in the UK.
The six awards to be granted on the 2nd of October 2018 include:
- Community Sponsorship Group of the Year
- Volunteer of the Year
- Local Authority of the Year
- New Community Sponsorship Group of the Year
- Newcomer of the Year and
- Sponsorship Champion of the Year
