Trustee, Susannah Baker MBE discussing Community Sponsorship with the Guardian

For almost a decade, we’ve supported and seeded Community Sponsorship groups across the UK - teams of at least six volunteers who come together to welcome a refugee family arriving through a government-approved pathway.

Each group finds and prepares suitable housing, offers practical and emotional support, and walks alongside the family as they adapt to life in the UK. Support is most intensive in the early months and gradually reduces as confidence and independence grow.

The Pickwell Foundation provides training, supports the matching, and ongoing specialist guidance - from education and employment to wellbeing and integration. This grassroots, community-led model has helped hundreds of families rebuild their lives while enriching the communities that receive them.

“This places control firmly in the hands of communities, allowing them to identify and welcome refugees they are ready to support,” she says. “It is both compassionate and controlled, delivering strong integration outcomes because communities are active partners from the outset. When local people are involved early, newcomers learn English more quickly, find work sooner, and become part of community life.”

- Susannah Baker, Trustee The Pickwell Foundation & Chair of the Community Sponsorship Alliance

Our Trustee, Susannah Baker MBE, who also serves as Chair of the Community Sponsorship Alliance, was featured in an article published today by The Guardian. Susannah, together with one of our Community Sponsorship volunteers and the mother receiving support from the Bideford-based group, shared their experiences of being welcomed into the community and the benefits of providing support.

Read the article in full here.

Learn more about Community Sponsorship and how you can register your interest in creating a group in your local community here.