Why this parish has pulled together to host refugees 

The theme of this year’s Refugee Week is Our Home, in which we’re invited to ponder what Home means to us, and what it means to share a collective home.  

The Jesuit Refugee Service UK (JRS UK) works with people seeking asylum who have no recourse to public funds and therefore depend on friends, family and charity until they can achieve settled status which may take years. Due to the UK’s hostile environment towards asylum seekers, they are not legally permitted to work, rent, or own a home. 

In response to the need for accommodation, an important part of the service provision of JRS UK is a hosting scheme for homeless refugee friends. Hosting placements with JRS UK can take many forms. When we first began facilitating hosting placements for refugees over a decade ago, our hosts were predominantly religious orders living in community together. Since then we have been able to offer placements to refugee friends in a variety of homes – with families big and small, couples, single people, and even a household of young adults. Priests have often kindly welcomed refugee friends into their presbyteries too.  

At JRS UK we value diversity greatly; it is in this multiplicity that we find opportunities for learning, creativity and innovation. The diversity in our hosting community offers so much to us as a team. It also facilitates our emphasis on “matching” - we know how important it is to match guests and hosts whose lifestyles, preferences, and needs align. The more host placements we have available, and the more diverse, the better able we are to match people. 

In recent years, we’ve had the pleasure of developing a new and unique set-up. A parish in South London generously offered us use of a private flat in their grounds. The parish priest acts as the formal host*, and through the dedication and support of a team of parishioners makes this placement possible – and very successful. Parishioners have worked in solidarity as neighbours to “welcome the stranger” to their community.  

He explains: “I inherited the initiative from the previous parish priest, and when I arrived in September 2020 there was a refugee friend staying here, in a separate flat, but we had very limited interaction. It became clear that we would need more people than just the priests involved in supporting and welcoming our guests to the parish. So we invited parishioners to join us for an initial meeting about this, and this is when our hosting became revamped and there was a lot of life, interest, and care put into it. 

We are now doing something together that is very positive and needed; something that a lot of people give attention to so it's not a burden on one or two people. The team has developed ways of working and welcoming refugee friends well.”

The beginnings of the parish collaboration 

Parishioner Liz tells of the first parish meeting: “I came to that first meeting and never really thought how far I'd continue with it or where the interest would take me. I offered to be the coordinator because we felt that as a team we'd have to put some structure to how the group would work and to make it a successful venture. We attended training that JRS UK provided, and we went to their centre in Wapping and had some fantastic insights as to what and how we can accompany our refugee friends. And we then came back and put that into practice and learned as we were going along.”

A group of volunteers began working together, we agreed roles, like who would be the “lead visitors’, one or two people to visit initially and support the guests to settle in and introduce other members of the group throughout the placement so that everyone is introduced over time. They set up a WhatsApp group as a useful means of keeping each other up to date during the placement. Every member of the group is included, even if they cannot make visits. The parish clarified and met safeguarding regulations and all volunteers had DBS checks. JRS UK guided and prepared the volunteers to help them understand how best to support refugee friends.  

As the Welcome Team Coordinator Liz explained: “Setting up a parish placement is unique, it can take time to learn good practice together as a group, get to know each other through meetings, and prepare the flat. Sometimes there is maintenance to sort out, and we like to prepare a welcome meal for the guest too. 

Hosting really is about welcoming and being careful not to do too much so you can support people's independence. Refugee friends are independent and resilient, and if they need support with their health or other things then they have keyworkers at JRS UK to help them and there is important continuity in that relationship.”

The experience of hosting 

The parish priest says, “Having JRS UK supporting us throughout, and having the reassurance that if something doesn’t work out, we can end the placement, is very important. It has felt reassuring from the start that there is this clear structure that underpins the placements and makes it safe. We meet the guests at the matching meeting and then JRS UK come to visit and review the placement and then also debrief with us. It has been a very positive experience.”

Liz explains, “I think that once we had the first guest, we were like, okay, it's doable. So the natural initial fear and hesitation somehow evaporated because you know, it is a responsibility, but at the end of the day it’s just not that difficult. You do what you need to do with the hope that is going to work, and it does work. 

“We get great support from JRS UK. The Accommodation Team have really helped us fantastically. And we find the regular meetings with other hosts and volunteers really good as well, hearing about other experiences and getting simple tips from them.”

Why host? 

Regarding hosting, the priest continues: “It's what God and what Jesus wants us to do. When Jesus says in the gospel “make your home in me, as I make mine in you” this is that understanding that together we are in unity with God. And then he says “love one another as I have loved you”, so you know from the spiritual, gospel perspective, it's exactly what God calls us to do. 

“I would also say that if there is an opportunity to do something, then at least I need to give it a chance so when I confess during mass, I don't want to have neglected the opportunity to do good.”

Liz adds, “I remember at that first meeting one of the group saying that welcoming a refugee is demonstrating our Christian love, and that's always stuck with me. I remember in our Synod meetings, we talked about being involved in supporting the marginalised in our own areas. And sharing news of this work, it’s clear that as a parish we have become so energized in the last couple of years through great leadership, and we are coming together and have a collective generosity of spirit. It's a great thing in the parish itself. 

“I think each member of the team would say that we got a lot back from having hosted refugee friends, rather than us really having given to them. When we go to visit the refugee friends at the flat, they like to prepare tea and biscuits for us. It is in their own dignity to give us something back, and that's a hugely generous human gesture.”

JRS UK Accommodation Officer Laurence Rossignol comments: “The parish have done a great job of learning together, they also have a laugh, which is sometimes all you need, just to be able to get on well and trust each other. they make the guests feel welcome, visit when it suits them and get together with the guest and sometimes staff for special events like birthdays and Christmas. They keep it simple but have fun and through that offer welcome and hospitality. 

“This is an amazing project to be a part of. Perhaps it will inspire other parishes to extend such warmth and hospitality to refugees. We know that hosting can take form as a collective effort – a neighbourhood or a community providing safety. We hope there will be other gifts of kindness such as this.”

Amy-Leigh Hatton is Accommodation Project Coordinator, JRS UK 

*To safeguard the refugees we have anonymised both the names of the priest and the parish