Lichfield Cathedral Sponsors a Family of Syrian Refugees

The theme for Refugee Week 2024 is “Our Home”.

Home can be a place of refuge, a feeling or a state of mind. It can be found in smells, tastes and sounds. From the clothes we wear to the words we grew up with. It’s in food, music and arts. It’s in our cultures and in our landscapes.

Home can be more than one place and finding it can be a journey, as it is for so many of us who have to leave our countries and rebuild our lives. Sometimes we can find home in a single person. Other times it’s in a whole community. And often, it’s in a single gesture of care and welcome.

For Refugee Week 2024, we wanted to share this story from Lichfield Cathedral 

Lichfield Cathedral sponsors a family of Syrian refugees and finds the true meaning of its core values.

“This has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve been involved in and is making a real difference to the resettled family’s life.” Simon Warburton, Lichfield Cathedral

It has taken love and dedication, but Lichfield Cathedral’s sponsorship of a family of Syrian refugees has brought inestimable rewards and enabled it to find the true meaning of its core values of hope, hospitality, holiness and healing.

Lichfield Cathedral applied to be a community sponsor in 2022, one of the Home Office’s resettlement schemes and a direct way that faith groups can provide support to vulnerable people fleeing conflict.

They used their Lent appeals in 2022 and 2023 to raise funds to make that project happen for, as sponsors, they were responsible for providing emotional and practical support so the resettled families could begin to rebuild their lives in safety and to become self-sufficient members of their new community.

Lichfield finally welcomed a family of Syrian refugees in April 2023 and with a dedicated team of ten volunteers, they began to help the family settle into the UK.

The family immediately enrolled into Lichfield’s English Language School while the cathedral team worked hard to help them navigate the benefits system, gain access to health resources, and education for their daughter.  Plus the team sought out volunteering opportunities that could help thefamily with future employment.

Simon Warburton, executive director at Lichfield Cathedral, said,

“At a time when politically, there is a focus on illegal migration, we need to remember that there are many who are still coming here legally.

“And having now been part of that process, these families need help, especially when they come with expectations about what life might be like. 

“The same pressure we all feel with our health, education and the economy, is even more acute for resettled families. 

“This is where the Cathedral community really stepped up to the plate. The team offer support across all these areas, as well as offering basic but much-needed social contact. 

“I don’t think any of us really knew what to expect as we started on this journey, but I see our values being lived out and I couldn’t be any prouder to be part of it.”