IRiS staff, Jenny Phillimore, Rachel Humphris and associate, Gemma Hennessey, were invited to attend the Community Sponsorship awards ceremony at The Royal Society in London on Tuesday 2nd October 2018
The event, hosted by Claudia Hammond, BBC Radio 4 and World Service Presenter, celebrated the work that inspirational groups, individuals and local authorities have undertaken to make community sponsorship a success. IRiS’s own Research Fellow, Hoayda Darkal, appeared on screen briefly participating in her role as a volunteer for the Pickwell Foundation who were nominated for the ‘Group of the Year’. Both Jenny and Gemma are contributing to shaping the UK’s Community Sponsorship Programme through undertaking a University of Birmingham funded formative evaluation of the programme, which, established in 2017, is developing quickly based upon the highly praised Canadian programme.
IRiS’s community sponsorship programme evaluation explores the process of developing sponsorship opportunities, assessing the support needs of sponsored families once in residence and considering the motivations, aspirations and experiences of volunteers. The team are undertaking longitudinal research with eight of the UK’s groups. They will use their findings to develop recommendations providing new knowledge for practitioners, sponsors and policymakers about the levels and types of support needed for refugees and volunteers.