Welcome New Neighbours
At the heart of everything we do is a belief that welcome is best led by communities. For nearly a decade, we’ve helped create the conditions for people across the UK to open their hearts, homes, and neighbourhoods to newcomers — whether they’ve arrived through formal resettlement schemes, asylum routes, or sponsorship pathways.
Through our work with the Welcome Coalition, we connect and support those building a culture of welcome across the UK — from local volunteers to national networks and decision-makers. We also help to seed, train, and sustain Community Sponsorship groups: teams of local people who come together to welcome a refugee family, find them a home, and walk alongside them as they build new lives.
As part of this commitment, The Pickwell Foundation leads the national Afghan Welcome Project - part of the Government’s Communities for Afghans (CFA) scheme. This consortium-led programme enables communities across the UK to support Afghan families rebuilding their lives in safety, drawing on the same community-led model of sponsorship and support that has transformed hundreds of lives to date.
Wherever our work takes place, the approach is the same: we put community at the centre. True integration happens not only through services, but through relationships — when people are invited into one another’s homes, share food, celebrate milestones, and build friendship and trust.
This spirit of connection was powerfully seen during our work in the asylum hotel, where we created small “family groups” — each named after a local area — pairing two volunteers with a small group of residents. These relationships offered belonging and dignity at a time of great uncertainty, often around the sharing of food. Food remains central to how we welcome — as we’ve seen, sharing a meal or a story can transform strangers into neighbours and turn towns and villages into true communities of welcome.
The Lost Guide
A short film created in partnership with The Pickwell Foundation, Gaffe Studios, and filmmaker Dan Atkins. The Lost Guide explores humanity’s capacity for compassion and resilience, following people seeking asylum as they find refuge in a rural UK seaside town.
Through intimate storytelling and striking coastal imagery, the film captures the transformative power of community as local people and newcomers meet, share, and rebuild together. It’s a moving portrait of empathy and belonging — showing how open hearts and open minds can bridge divides and create home.
For A Time
Toby Adamson, an experienced photographer who has spent years documenting events and stories around the world, generously gave his time to capture the welcome and support offered to individuals and families dispersed to a seaside hotel in North Devon. The hotel was used by the Home Office as part of the Asylum Dispersal initiative, designed to lessen pressure on towns and cities in the South East of England.
Realising that this would have an impact on the town, the local authority engaged The Pickwell Foundation to coordinate a response for the guests placed in the hotel. Along the way, many local organisations, community groups and individuals stepped forward, offering their time, space and resources to make that support possible.
The images in this exhibition are the result of months of Toby’s work. As a skilled craftsman, he captures moments as they truly are—nothing staged or set up—offering genuine insights into joy and grief, pain and connection.
Would you like to host this exhibition and share its important message with your audience? Get in touch by email or complete our booking form using the buttons below.
Refugee Sponsorship Film
In 2020, we produced a short film that captured a community group's journey of welcoming new neighbours through Refugee Sponsorship.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Partnering with the Pickwell Foundation offers businesses and organisations an opportunity to align their Corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts with impactful, meaningful causes for People and Planet. This collaboration will provide opportunities to support vulnerable populations, strengthen community connections and promote sustainability whilst demonstrating our positive social impact, enhancing employee engagement and appealing to customers who value purpose alongside profit.
Whether you're looking to make a significant impact or are just starting to explore corporate social responsibility initiatives, we're here to guide you every step of the way. Our team is committed to helping you identify opportunities that align with your organisation's values and goals, ensuring that your contributions create meaningful and sustainable change. Let's work together to make a positive difference in the community. Email us to discuss how we can tailor a pricing package that suits the levels of support you can provide and let's start building a brighter future for people and planet!
Financial Donations: Contributing a percentage of profits or making one-time donations to assist the Foundation's work, such as resettling families, help sustain the running cost of our welcome hub, sponsoring events and activities and funding climate action initiatives.
Employee Volunteering: Encouraging employees to volunteer their time or skills to assist with the Foundation’s projects.
In-Kind Donations: Offering goods or services that the Foundation may need, such as clothing, household items for families, office supplies, or technology for educational purposes.
Partnerships in Awareness Campaigns: Using the company’s platform (website, social media, marketing campaigns) to raise awareness about the Foundation’s work and the causes it supports, thereby amplifying the message of community-led welcome and climate action.
Green Initiatives: Collaborating with the Foundation on joint environmental projects or sustainability initiatives for our local communities.