Outputs from the Refugee Sponsorship Hub
Publications
Reports
Reports
Phillimore, J, Reyes Soto, M, Nicholls, N & D'Avino, G 2025, Shaping the future of community sponsorship in the UK and beyond: expanding pathways for refugee resettlement. University of Birmingham.
Homes for Ukraine: a toolkit for hosts and guests
Phillimore, J, D'Avino, G, Papoutsi, A, Strain-Fajth, V & Ziss, P 2022, Refugee resettlement policy and practice: a systematic literature review.
Reyes Soto, M & Phillimore, J 2021, Community Sponsorship Scheme: Supporting refugees and volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reyes Soto, M, Phillimore, J & Hassan, S 2020, Community Sponsorship in the UK: Formative evaluation 2017-2020.
Reyes Soto, M & Phillimore, J 2020, Like pebbles in a pool: the effect of community sponsorship on knowledge about, and attitudes to, refugees in less-diverse communities.
Hassan, S., & Phillimore, J. (2020). Community Sponsorship in the UK: Refugees to citizens.
Phillimore, J 2020, Community and Private Sponsorship – summary of the global state of knowledge. Birmingham.
Phillimore, J & Reyes Soto, M 2019, Community Sponsorship in the UK: from application to integration.
Policy briefs
Policy briefs
Phillimore, J, Reyes Soto, M, Nicholls, N & D'Avino, G 2025, The future of refugee sponsorship in the UK.
D'Avino, G 2025, Building belonging: Strengthening CS for refugee integration in the UK. University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
D'Avino, G 2025, From assistance to agency: Enhancing the UK resettlement scheme for lasting integration. University of Birmingham.
Nicholls, N 2025, Supporting volunteers in the preparation phase of community sponsorship. University of Birmingham.
Nicholls, N 2025, Supporting volunteers during the arrival and resettlement phase of community sponsorship. University of Birmingham.
Nicholls, N 2025, Sustaining volunteer engagement in the post-sponsorship phase of community sponsorship. University of Birmingham.
Ziss, P, Phillimore, J, D'Avino, G, Papoutsi, A & Strain-Fajth, V 2021, Selection and placement in the resettlement of refugees.
D'Avino, G, Phillimore, J, Papoutsi, A, Strain-Fajth, V & Ziss, P 2021, The role of NGOs and volunteers in refugee resettlement.
Ziss, P, Phillimore, J, D'Avino, G, Papoutsi, A & Strain-Fajth, V 2021, Family reunion policy and resettlement refugees
Strain-Fajth, V, Phillimore, J, D'Avino, G, Papoutsi, A & Ziss, P 2021, Integration policies and programmes for resettlement refugees (part 1).
Strain-Fajth, V, Phillimore, J, D'Avino, G, Papoutsi, A & Ziss, P 2021, Implementation of integration policy and practice for resettlement refugees (part 2).
Papoutsi, A, Phillimore, J, D'Avino, G, Strain-Fajth, V & Ziss, P 2021, Monitoring and evaluation of resettlement programmes.
D'Avino, G, Phillimore, J, Papoutsi, A, Strain-Fajth, V & Ziss, P 2021, Community and Private Sponsorship Programmes.
Phillimore, J 2020, Motivating and sustaining Community Sponsorship volunteers.
Phillimore, J 2020, Community Sponsorship and learning from refugees' experiences.
Phillimore, J 2020, Community Sponsorship refugee and integration
Phillimore, J 2020, The wider impact of Community Sponsorship on communities
Phillimore, J 2020, Improving the UK's Community Sponsorship Scheme.
Phillimore, J 2020, Expectations and understanding of Community Sponsorship before refugee arrival.
Reyes Soto, M & Phillimore, J 2020, Tips for Community Sponsorship Groups.
Reyes Soto, M & Phillimore, J 2020, Insights for the Home Office-Community Sponsorship in the UK.
Reyes Soto, M & Phillimore, J 2020, Community Sponsorship Scheme: Benefits for Volunteers.
Articles
Articles
Phillimore, J., Soto, M.R., D’Avino, G. et al. Community Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways: Global Movements for Resettling Refugees Driven by Local Actors. Int. Migration & Integration 26, 2045–2069 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-025-01310-9
Pinyol-Jiménez, G., Reyes-Soto, M., D’Avino, G. et al. Community Sponsorship in the Basque Country: Empowering Autonomy and Integration Through a Constructive Private and Public Partnership. Int. Migration & Integration 26, 2125–2147 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-025-01275-9
D’Avino, G. (2025). Comparative analysis of resettled refugees’ social networks: A mixed-method approach with visualisation tools. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 51(1), 222–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2423641
Gabriella D’Avino, The intersection between social relationships and policies in refugee integration: The role of emotional support, Journal of Refugee Studies, Volume 38, Issue 4, December 2025, Pages 910–932, https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaf015
Hassan S, Phillimore J, D’Avino G. You Are Safe Here: Community Sponsorship Policy and Refugee Integration in the UK. Social Policy and Society. Published online 2024:1-15. doi:10.1017/S1474746424000241
Reyes-Soto, M. It’s About the Power of Little People’: the UK Community Sponsorship Scheme, a New Space for Solidarity, Civic Engagement and Activism. Int. Migration & Integration 24, 1939–1955 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-023-01055-3
Phillimore J., D’Avino G., Strain-Fajth V,, Papoutsi A., Ziss, P. Family reunion policy for resettled refugees: Governance, challenges and impacts. Sec. Dynamics of Migration and (Im)Mobility, Volume 5 - 2023, https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2023.1075306
Phillimore, J., Reyes-Soto, M., D’Avino, G. et al. “I have Felt so Much Joy”: The Role of Emotions in Community Sponsorship of Refugees. Voluntas 33, 386–396 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00349-3
D’avino, G. (2021). Framing Community Sponsorship in the context of the UK’s hostile environment. Critical Social Policy, 42(2), 327-349. https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183211023890
Phillimore, J., Morrice, L., Kabe, K. et al. Economic self-reliance or social relations? What works in refugee integration? Learning from resettlement programmes in Japan and the UK. CMS 9, 17 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-021-00223-7
Special issue: Community Sponsorship and Complementary Pathways
We have edited the first Special Issue dedicated to community sponsorship and complementary pathways outside Canada, published in the Journal of International Migration and Integration. This collection brings together emerging scholarship on programmes developed across Europe, Australia, East Asia and Latin America, expanding understanding of how sponsorship and complementary pathways are shaping refugee protection globally.
Drawing on the systematic scoping review we conducted for the introductory article, the Special Issue establishes the current state of knowledge, identifies conceptual and empirical gaps, and sets a future research agenda. The contributions examine diverse themes including multi-level governance, volunteer motivations and power dynamics, refugee autonomy, legal and policy frameworks, Humanitarian Corridors, labour and education pathways, and the roles of civil society, faith actors and policymakers. Together, the papers provide the first comparative analysis of these expanding models of protection beyond the Canadian context.
Doctoral Research
Natasha Nicholls
Natasha’s research examines the role of CS volunteers focusing on how volunteer engagement shapes relationships with sponsored refugees and influences longer-term political and voluntary action. Drawing on qualitative methods, including walking interviews and online photo-elicitation interviews conducted across three stages of the sponsorship process, her work explores how volunteers’ experiences and perspectives evolve over time. Using a framework grounded in hospitality, her findings show that volunteers’ understandings of power shift over the resettlement period, from more paternalistic orientations towards increasingly reciprocal relationships that recognise refugee agency. By the end of the formal support period, many volunteers demonstrate greater political engagement in support of refugees, highlighting the potential of CS to foster more balanced relationships and sustained political action.
Gabriella D’Avino
Gabriella’s research provides the first comparative study of the social networks of refugees resettled through Community Sponsorship (CS) and the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS). Drawing on qualitative interviews and social network analysis tools, she examines how different types of relationships and resources support integration under each model. Her findings show that CS refugees often develop broader, more diverse networks with greater emotional and practical support, while also highlighting the structural barriers that continue to shape integration processes across both groups.
Media, Commentary & Sector Engagement
Research on Private Sponsorship models in six European countries
Ukrainian refugee sponsorship: an opportunity for all refugees?
Homes for Ukraine: A toolkit for hosts and guests
Community Sponsorship: Religious Identity and Action in the ‘Refugee Crisis’
Five ways the UK government and local communities can support Afghan refugees
A Newbie’s guide to community sponsorship
My journey in Community Sponsorship
My experience with “super volunteers”
Community Sponsorship in the UK: Refugee perspectives
Community Sponsorship in the UK: Group and volunteer perspectives
Attracting and supporting volunteers
Photo Competition
In 2020, we held a photo competition following the formative evaluation of CS at the University of Birmingham. The wider evaluation, commissioned by charities working with sponsorship groups, included over 100 interviews with refugees and volunteers and explored experiences of resettlement, belonging, and support within community sponsorship. Building on interview findings in which refugees described what helped them feel “at home” in the UK, and following consultation with sponsorship groups, we invited both community-sponsored refugees and volunteers to take part in a photo competition. Participants were asked to submit photos responding to the theme “What makes me feel at home,” accompanied by a short caption (up to 100 words) explaining the meaning of the image.
Refugees submitted photos that highlighted the central role of relationships, family life, and everyday routines in creating a sense of home. Captions focused on friendship and community, such as making friends within sponsorship groups, celebrating religious and cultural events together (including Eid, New Year, and bonfire night), and sharing meals. Images also reflected children’s experiences of settlement, including happiness at school and preschool, playing with friends at home and in parks, completing homework projects, and having stable spaces for toys and family life. Leisure activities - for example, trips to the beach, countryside outings, football matches, and holidays - were also described as moments of belonging and normality. The winning refugee entry focused on celebrating a child’s birthday with friends, emphasising shared food, joy, and connection as key markers of feeling at home.
Volunteers submitted photographs and captions which offered complementary perspectives on belonging and integration. These images documented activities such as preparing welcoming homes, sharing food, organising community events, supporting families with childcare, attending school activities, mentoring refugees through practical challenges (including learning to drive), and celebrating educational milestones. Volunteers reflected on how sponsorship fostered teamwork, trust, mutual learning, and emotional connection, often describing how relationships with sponsored families became deeply personal. The winning volunteer entry captured the graduation of a supported refugee from language school.
A collection of photos from the competition are shown below.
‘We raised awareness about refugees' lives’
‘Finally, my kids found a place to put their toys’
‘After many, months of planning, preparation, hard work and co-ordination…it’s party time’
‘I enjoyed sharing food’
‘I enjoyed making a house welcoming for a family’