Dr Gabriella D’Avino
Honorary Research Fellow
Gabriella D'Avino focuses on refugee resettlement and migration policy, using mixed-methods and consultancy experience to inform integration and policy reforms.
Refugee sponsorship research hub
A decade of research shaping refugee sponsorship schemes in the UK and internationally.
Over the past decade, the IRIS team at the University of Birmingham, led by Professor Jenny Phillimore, has developed one of the world’s most extensive research programmes on refugee sponsorship. Since 2016, this work has informed national policy, enhanced community-led pathways, and contributed to shaping international approaches to refugee resettlement.
Refugee sponsorship enables individuals, community groups and civil society organisations to play a direct role in welcoming and supporting refugees. These models, inspired by Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees programme, have expanded rapidly across Europe and worldwide. In the UK, sponsorship has evolved through Community Sponsorship, Homes for Ukraine and Communities for Afghans—schemes that have supported thousands but remain underexplored in terms of delivery, impact, and sustainability.
The Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity (IRIS) has developed a unique evidence base on how sponsorship operates in practice, how it affects the lives of refugees and volunteers, and how policy can better enable community-led integration.
Our research programme
Since 2016, IRIS has conducted multiple, interconnected research projects examining the design, implementation and outcomes of refugee sponsorship in the UK and internationally.
Through formative evaluations, comparative studies, literature reviews, participatory research and policy-facing work, the programme has, by the end of 2025, generated eight reports, a toolkit, nearly twenty policy briefs, ten peer-reviewed articles and additional practice resources. Across these studies, IRIS has undertaken over 380 qualitative interviews with a diverse range of participants, including refugees, volunteers, hosts, local authorities, policymakers, NGOs, international experts and members of the public. In addition, the programme has reviewed more than 338 documents from academic and grey literature, contributing to one of the most comprehensive evidence bases on refugee sponsorship internationally.
Funded by QR Research and Knowledge Exchange, the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, the programme has shaped guidance, supported practitioners, and informed policy development across the UK’s evolving sponsorship landscape.
Key research themes
- Formation and governance of sponsorship groups
- Volunteer motivations, expectations and experiences
- Refugee wellbeing, integration trajectories and autonomy
- Housing, coordination and operational challenges
- Public attitudes towards sponsored refugees and sponsorship programmes
- Emotional labour, solidarity and community relations
- Complementary pathways and global sponsorship movements
Members of the research hub
Professor Jenny Phillimore
Professor of Migration and Superdiversity
Professor Phillimore is a world leading scholar in refugee integration, superdiversity and access to social welfare.
Dr Natasha Nicholls
Honorary Research Fellow
Natasha's work explores community sponsorship, complementary pathways and the impact of migration on healthcare experiences in the UK.
Dr Marisol Reyes Soto
Honorary Research Fellow
Dr Reyes examines sponsorship programmes and complementary pathways for refugee resettlement.