Writing the Stage One Application Form

Download the PSAP Application Form here. You can also view it below.

As you will see, the Stage One Application has five sections. Your Lead Sponsor should complete the following Sections:

Section 1: Principal Sponsor organisation.
Section 2: About your personnel. Lead Sponsor: 2.1 - 2.12.
Section 4: Disclosure
Section 5: Declaration.

(If Citizens UK are your Lead Sponsor, we will complete these sections for you).

Your group will need to complete the following sections:

Section 2: Core Support Personnel
Section 3: Your Resettlement Plan

Below you will find some advice and example answers. Please use these as a guide, but don't cut & paste directly - be sure to adapt them to fit your group's approach.

Section 2: Core Support personnel:

2.13 Please tell us about the core group of people who will be responsible for supporting the resettled family placed in your care if your organisation is approved for community sponsorship. It is essential that volunteers have relevant experience and you appoint a Project Manager and Safeguarding Lead (details regarding the role of Project Manager can be in the Community Sponsorship Agreement), however all other roles can be determined at the discretion of the group. Please continue on a separate sheet if necessary. 12 spaces have been provided below, but only fill in as many as is relevant to your core group.

You (individual Lead Sponsor) are responsible to ensure that all personnel undertaking activity in relation to children and vulnerable adults are suitable and of good character. Further advise can be found in the Community Sponsorship Agreement.

There are 12 boxes, but you do not need to fill them all. You should have people in your team who can support in the following areas:

Project Manager (essential)
Safeguarding Lead (essential)
Treasurer
Education
English Language
Interpreters
Health
Employment
Benefits
Accommodation
Befrienders (e.g. navigation of the local area, introduction to community, etc.)

You might not have have filled all the necessary roles at this stage. Don't worry - You should identify the leads you will have, and indicate if the vacancy will require filling.

Section 3: Your Resettlement Plan

Following successful completion of stage 1 of the application, a family will be referred to you for resettlement. You must submit your application for stage 2 approval within 4 months of the family being referred to you. Please outline your groups plans/strategy for completing the stage 2 application requirements in the required 4-month period by demonstrating how you will be:

a) Providing a suitable property for a refugee family

(see this module for Finding a Property)

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

What are we looking for?

We will be looking for housing in THESE AREAS – they have good transport links and schools and rents tend to be more affordable.

We anticipate being able to find a 2 or 4 bedroom property. It is unlikely we could find a 1 or 3 bedroom property in this area, due to high demand.

Despite high costs of living, a Rightmove search shows that there are some properties of various sizes currently available to rent at LHA rate. However, the LHA rate for 4+ bedrooms is £X per week and the benefits cap is just £X per week, leaving just £X for living costs. Therefore, if we were to welcome a larger family, they would need to be an extended family who could make multiple, separate UC claims, to overcome the benefits cap.

We are aiming to find a property rented at Local Housing Allowance rates – though we have budgeted to top up £X per month if necessary.

How will we find it?

We have begun to establish a relationship with private landlords and Estate Agents who might be willing to have tenants on Universal Credit.

Once we have a family profile we will actively network with property owners in person and/or through media.

We have also started to build relationships with the local Housing Association, and are approaching faith institutions that may have vacant properties.

What will we do next?

The Local Authority will be asked to check the property, as well as the police board consultation form be completed, and it will meet the requirements set out.

If it becomes clear that the property is only available for the minimum 2 years, we will work with the family through our transition plan to give them the best opportunity to find accommodation in a timely manner.

We will appoint a housing lead who will work with the family to communicate with their landlord, oversee the signing of the tenancy agreement and explaining what this means for the family.

Attached - Example Housing Strategy.

Download

An Example Housing Strategy - anon.docx

b) fundraising any additional funds needed to meet the required £9,000

(see this module for Fundraising)

EXAMPLE ANSWER: We have raised £3,600 so far. We estimate that, based on the higher costs of living, we will need to raise £12,000 in total. Over the next four months, we will raise this through:

25 donors are giving a total of £500 per month - £2,000
We have been selected as the partner charity for the local mosque, who expect to raise £4,000 during Ramadan
Our local rugby team are doing a sponsored bike ride the distance to Aleppo, and expect to raise £2,000
We are running a monthly quiz night, which are raising £1,000 on average - £4,000
The Rotary Club have offered a £500 donation

A local supporter has offered to meet any shortfall, should we not manage to raise the necessary funds before the family's arrival.

C) fulfilling the 'Statement of Requirements'

You can find the Statement of Requirements in the Home Office Guidance below.

EXAMPLE ANSWER: Our volunteers are well equipped to support with registration of local services, navigating the local neighbourhood, connecting with community groups, and supporting with digital services. They will also plan for the arrival of the family, including the provision of initial cash payments and transportation from the airport. We’ll research culturally appropriate groceries and take advice from support providers.

If school places are required, we’ll be reaching out to our local authority team to understand the registration process and finding out what places will be available. One of our group members is a governor at a local primary school, and several group members are parents, so we are familiar with the processes.

Our health lead will engage with local GP practices to understand the registration process, taking into account any specific health need of the family members allocated to our Group. We will also connect with the local refugee services charity, that provide additional trauma counselling, and identifying other local services that can provide holistic wellbeing support.

Our Language Lead will be researching how we will meet the need for interpreters, looking at commercially available interpreters as well as volunteers and other ways of communicating.

We know that there are a number of ESOL courses available through the local colleges, and we will be making connections with these providers. We will carry out further research into available ESOL provision and conversation club. We’ll also be upskilling our team by finding volunteers locally who will provide access to informal ESOL tuition.

Our Accommodation lead will liaise with the landlord, and make a plan for issues relating to provision of utilities, and preparing the housing.

We will recruit a volunteer who is able to provide support for finding employment and volunteering opportunities, and a volunteer who is able to provide specific support with benefits. We are also aware of the local Citizens Advice, who can assist with benefits.

During this time, we will be developing our empowerment approach to resettling refugees through training with our Lead Sponsor & Reset, and building a strong team.