This new report explains how Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) have the potential to play a huge role in the delivery of Community Sponsorship Schemes (CSS) across the country. Led by people with lived experience of the asylum system and of integration pathways, RCOs have the experience of supporting vulnerable people within their communities, including refugees and people seeking asylum.

 

This report states that despite this potential, RCOs are not involved in community sponsorships as much as other civil society groups such as faith groups and other Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Barriers to their involvement include a lack of information and awareness within RCOs about community sponsorship schemes, a lack of confidence in their expertise and issues related to finding suitable accommodation for refugees. A further challenge is related to the systemic difficulties in accessing resources and the inability to afford long term investments which result in their lack of capacity to meet some of the Home Office requirements, particularly the financial requirement and the consent from local authorities.