Since the first community sponsorship scheme was launched in Europe in 2016, sponsorship programmes have expanded under highly diverse national and regional frameworks and partnerships, piloting new ways for private citizens and civil society to welcome refugees into their local communities. Each national and local context face their own unique challenges, however, prioritising autonomy and empowerment for the people welcomed is a shared common goal.
The workshop will include:
A training session on effectively managing boundaries between the sponsorship group and the families welcomed;
A roundtable discussion between experienced volunteers and individuals welcomed on best practice for autonomy, empowerment, and transition planning;
And plenty of time for questions and comments from participants.
This workshop is open to sponsorship volunteers, people welcomed through sponsorship and organisations delivering sponsorship programmes across Europe. It is an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences and share ideas on best practice.
If you have not done so already, please take a look at our new Online Training Portal for Community Sponsorship – it is full of resources, case studies and ideas from sponsorship organisations, volunteers and different programmes across Europe.
Please note that the session will be delivered in English. Please inform us ASAP, through the registration responses, if you require translation in another language and we will try to accommodate this where possible.
The conference is co-organised by ICMC Europe/Share network and its partner Citizens UK, within the framework of Share’s Quality Sponsorship Network (QSN) programme. Coordinated by ICMC Europe, Share QSN supports pilot and ad-hoc sponsorship initiatives to develop into sustainable, community-driven programmes. One of the main objectives of Share QSN is to support the growth and sustainability of community sponsorship by widening the engagement of non-traditional actors, such as the private sector, diaspora and migrant communities, higher education institutions and local and regional authorities.
