Community sponsorship: a joint endeavour

Westminster Quaker Meeting, Bloomsbury Baptist Church and LSE's Faith Centre are working together to jointly welcome a Syrian family to the heart of the city in 2019. Read more about our journey.

Blog by Sarah Holtam, leader at Westminster Quaker Meeting

It has been wonderful working with these institutions to meet the core criteria required of community sponsorship groups:

£9,000 has been secured as is required by the Home Office (£4.5k per adult). This money is held as a bond as evidence that we can organise and to cover emergencies when the family arrive.

We're in a positive conversation about a three bedroomed house in Islington which will be vacant in early 2019. The Syrian family are entitled to claim all the normal benefits and/or find work, plus benefits.

• Our diverse team is just emerging to bring together the various talents, expertise and volunteer time which will be necessary to receive and support the family once they arrive.

After years of powerlessly observing a devastating conflict, we now have an opportunity to transform one family's future and build relationships between these Central London institutions.

If you'd like to find out more, visit www.sponsorrefugees.org or contact sarahholtam@gmail.com .