Information for referrers

We want to work alongside organisations who are supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, and many charities across the UK make referrals into Refugees at Home and we provide hosting whilst caseworkers support in other ways.  The relationship between Refugees at Home and the referring organisation is built on trust and openness, we trust referrers to know their service users very well and charities trust us to provide safe and secure temporary accommodation to refugees.

The information on this page is aimed at anyone working at these organisations who are considering referring a guest. If you’re interested in learning more about our referring a guest to us, or how we can work together, please get in touch by email.

What does a referrer do?

While the Refugees at Home team supports our hosts throughout their placement, our referrers will be the main point of contact for  guests, assisting with permanent accommodation, asylum claims, and other forms of support.

We know how busy referrers are, and we want to work with you in a way that works for both of us.  If you’d like to discuss how we can work with you, please do get in touch.

Who are our referrers?

Our referrers are registered charities with paid staff who have the resources to support people seeking sanctuary throughout the process.

Current referrers include local and national charities such as British Red Cross, AFRIL, Glass Door, Roundabout and MicroRainbow.

We do not accept referrals from local authorities and other statutory organisations but we are keen to explore how we can best assist these bodies as they support refugees.

Who can I refer?

Currently, we accept referrals for:

• Refugees
• People seeking asylum – both those awaiting a ‘screening’ interview, and those whose claims have been unsuccessful
• Applicants through the Homes for Ukraine scheme
• People seeking asylum who are disputing their age
• Survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking with insecure immigration status

Making a referral

Click the link at the bottom of this page to make a referral. Please do not make a referral for a guest without their informed consent.

• You should consider whether the person you are supporting is suitable for hosting. Think about your interaction with them, what you know about how they interact with others and the conversations you have with your service user. Hosts will get to know the person you are supporting in an entirely different way to you, there’s nothing quite like living with someone! The more we know at the outset, the easier it makes it to place the person you are supporting.
• Please try and paint as vivid a picture as possible of the guest and their situation. This is useful both for us, and any potential host who may have questions.
• Useful things to include are languages spoken and to what level, dietary requirements, physical or mental health conditions or accessibility needs. Please don’t omit anything that you feel may put off potential hosts, as this is likely to be worse for the guest in the long run. Any extra information, for example what their personality is like, or their interests, will also help us make a match.
• Unlike our self-referred guests, we rarely speak to our referred guests before a placement starts, referrers are the point of contact for guests.
• If you have known the guest for less than three months they will also need to provide contact details for a character reference from someone who knows them in a professional capacity, such as a tutor, accommodation manager, or charity worker.

The outcome of the referral

Based on the information you share with us, both on the referral form and in our follow up interactions we’ll decide whether they’re suitable for hosting. If so, we’ll start contacting hosts who are a good match and will let you know if one is found.

While we understand that both guests and hosts may have their own requirements, we’ve found that guests are more likely to be placed if they are vaccinated against COVID, will not smoke indoors, don’t mind pets, and are willing to live with LGBTQ+ hosts.

If both parties accept a placement, we’ll put you in touch with the host to arrange for the guest’s arrival and we’ll be staying in regular contact with you for any issues or updates on the guest’s experience with hosting and their move-on.

If we cannot accept a referral, or make a placement for you, we will let you know the reason for this.  We will try our hardest to place all those we can, but it’s not possible in every case.  Where we’re able, we will signpost you to more appropriate services who may be able to assist you.

During the placement

When the placement is underway, our Placement Coordinators will check in regularly with any updates you may need to know, and to find out if there’s any news about the guest’s move-on plans. Please do respond to our requests for information, even if there is limited information on the progress of the guest’s case, as this helps us to communicate with hosts about issues they raise and keep their trust in us and you, we do have some hosts who won’t accept referrals made from some organisations based on a lack of communication in previous placements.

We’ll liaise directly with hosts, and referrers should always contact us rather than the hosts.

Safeguarding

While we take great case to assess guests and hosts before making a placement, nothing we do could eliminate the potential of something going wrong.

It’s essential for us to have reciprocal trust with our referrers and understand the ways that they support the people referred to us.

On the weekend, we run an emergency only service which is covered by senior members of our team. We will ask referrers about their availability for the same time so we’ll know who to contact should an issue need to be escalated. We expect referrers to raise any safeguarding concerns over a placement with us immediately. 

You can read our Safeguarding policy here.

Moving on

Our placements usually only last for weeks or months and we cannot guarantee another host will be available after it ends. We ask all referrers to proactively work with guests to increase their chances of long-term accommodation.

When the placement is coming to an end, we’ll get in touch to discuss the next steps. As a referrer, it’s up to you to explain what comes next to your guest and advise them of their options.