War, persecution, and countless other tragedies displace people from their homes, leaving them with the daunting prospect of rebuilding their lives in a new country. The Refugee and Migrant Centre (RMC) has nearly 27 years of experience providing support to vulnerable newcomers and local communities. At RMC, staff members such as our Head of Resettlement and Integration, Sandra Tittel, have an acute understanding of how support provision can help individuals and families to build full, independent lives in their new homes. Specifically, RMC staff have direct insight into the impact of effective multi-agency partnerships on reaching and supporting the people who need it.
Stuck in a cycle of frustration
With, often, limited knowledge of the language, culture, and systems in their new country, it is unsurprisingly easy for people who migrate to become stuck in a cycle of frustration. Identifying support systems and navigating complex processes is a difficult task, and many people may find themselves visiting multiple organisations for support. This can lead to the duplication of work, long referral processes, and unclear information, all whilst individuals are facing the risk of crisis and destitution. The key to avoiding this and supporting people who migrate is effective partnership building across the sector.
Sandra highlights RMC’s Homes for Ukraine (HfU) project as a key example of how strong, effective partnerships can be instrumental in creating a safe and succinct resettlement journey for those seeking refuge.
Sandra recalls, the Resettlement Team began working on an effective communications strategy “as soon as [we] heard news of the crisis in Ukraine”. RMC reached out to organisations across the West Midlands (such as NB4U, Centrala, EWA, Moseley for Ukraine, Ukraine Voice UK, Kryla and Bosnia House) to understand the support services available and gauge the immediate responses from grassroots organisations. This proactivity allowed the Resettlement Team to begin building positive relationships and a coherent response to the budding emergency before a support service was even commissioned. Sandra attributes much of the success of the HfU project to the forward-thinking approach of both RMC’s Resettlement Team and numerous other volunteer teams with extremely limited resources. By acting promptly, partnerships across the sector were forged, providing a strong basis to support resettlement.
Increasing support and partnership
In 2023, RMC were awarded the local authority contract for Homes for Ukraine provision. This increased access to resources and produced even stronger partnerships as organisations sought to coordinate the provision of support, which Sandra believes allowed for a more ‘Creative approach to Resettlement projects.’ Thanks to strong partnerships, RMC staff were able to carry out outreach with other organisations. Our team continues to attend these spaces on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, and these partnerships have enabled us to support groups within their own local community settings.
Additionally, RMC staff liaised to create a WhatsApp group for hosts and partner organisations (some volunteers at our grassroots partners were also acting as hosts). This served as a key resource for informing hosts of events, meetings, donations and more. It improved information sharing and ensured that work was not being duplicated. Strong communication fostered partnerships and coordination, ensuring that no one who needed support fell through the gaps as well as generating widespread awareness about the types of support being offered across the city for Ukrainians and hosts alike.
Building a successful support scheme
Sandra considers communication, transparency and partnership as pivotal in how these schemes are designed. The success of the WhatsApp group in building an excellent information-sharing system inspired the creation of an accessible shared resource with carefully curated and regularly updated information, The Chronicle is a monthly resource circulated amongst service users, hosts and providers collated by RMC. The Chronicle provides reliable, safe, and up-to-date information, something that is hugely important in an era of misinformation.
The partnership approach has differed from older Resettlement projects, such as the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), in part because the public (acting as “Hosts” for Ukrainian newcomers) were now key partners. This is a unique aspect of the HfU scheme and proved to be a powerful force in driving transparency and accountability in service delivery. Sandra believes this has been instrumental in the success of the Homes for Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (RMC is funded for support until 2027).
RMC have taken the knowledge gained and lessons learned from the HfU project and have been able to use this to improve current and future resettlement schemes and to build even more positive partnerships. Many previously mentioned partners are now funded for Afghan Resettlement Programmes (ARP), and RMC now works with many more providers such as BEEAS, Thrive, Breaking Barriers, The Bike Project, Restore, and Karis Neighbourhood Scheme to deliver successful resettlement programmes across the Midlands. The success of this model of partnerships and information sharing lead to the replication of the WhatsApp group for the ARP. Collaboration in real time has allowed for a full partnership approach, culminating in the 12-week welcome course on the ARP (based on a Coventry model) specialising in key aspects of resettlement, such as housing, income, benefits, health, digital skills, language skills, employment and community building. Furthermore, the success of The Chronicle amongst the initial Ukrainian userbase led to its expansion, now covering wider resettlement schemes and is circulated beyond Ukrainian communities, hosts, and organisations, covering the ARP too.
More than just crisis aversion
The success of the HfU partnership approach highlights the need for effective multiagency collaboration across the sector, especially where the communities we serve have such varying and complex needs. Larger charities benefit from on-the-ground knowledge and speedy mobilisation of smaller grassroots organisations with local supporters; whilst smaller organisations benefit from the reach and resources of their larger scale counterparts.
The delivery of holistic support from a single point of service is only possible through effective partnerships. Multiagency partnerships save time and resources, enabling organisations to focus not only on practical support in crisis and destitution prevention, but also on providing a more human and culturally enriching resettlement experience. For example, RMC and partners were recently able to host a widely successful celebration of Ukrainian Literature Day, supporting the community to focus on art, culture. The freedom to experience fun produces stronger community ties and happier, more secure, resettled families.
Partnerships provide more than just crisis aversion; they build a safe, stable environment, where people can be at home in a thriving community. Collaboration is key to the success of our communities, because lasting change happens when we work together.
Found this helpful? There’s plenty more to discover.
Need help? Check out all our support options
Want more stories and articles? Explore our latest topics
Want to learn more? We have lots of resources to build your knowledge
Ready to take action? Make a difference in a way that suits you
