A new scheme, part piloted in Cornwall, to allow community groups to directly sponsor a refugee family was today launched by the Home Secretary and Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace.

The Full Community Sponsorship scheme will enable community groups including charities, faith groups, churches and businesses, to take on the role of supporting resettled refugees in the UK.

A Help Refugees in the UK webpage has also been developed for the gov.uk website to make it easier for any member of the public to support refugees in the UK and allow local authorities to focus support on the goods and services that refugees need. 

The sponsorship scheme and webpage have been launched as part of the Government’s commitment to resettle thousands of the most vulnerable refugees in the UK.

Cornwall Council is one of nine local authorities piloting the webpage and encouraging residents to register their offers of support. Cornwall has so far resettled eight Syrian refugees under the Government’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme.