It’s About the Power of Little People’: the UK Community Sponsorship Scheme, a New Space for Solidarity, Civic Engagement and Activism

Abstract

The Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS) was introduced in 2016 by the UK Government to enable members of civil society to be directly involved in helping refugees settle in the UK. The CSS is intense and time-consuming, and a lot of effort is directed at helping one family to rebuild their lives in safety. Since the introduction of the scheme, nearly 1000 refugees have been resettled across the UK. The data used in this paper was collected as part of a three-year study intended to provide an independent formative evaluation of the CSS. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 145 volunteers and 33 individuals from the wider community at five locations where refugees have been placed, this article examines how acts of solidarity, community networks and civic engagement have mobilised ordinary citizens who advocate in favour of the refugee cause. The findings support the argument that motivations to volunteer are both altruistic and egocentric, predominantly delivered by older female volunteers. The article demonstrates that volunteers involved in the CSS have played a fundamental role in bridging social capital with wider members of the host communities. It concludes that the CSS is an innovative model of refugee resettlement that is breeding a new type of volunteering that empowers British civil society.