A New Irish Perspective

Angham Younes and her family were welcomed to Ireland through the Community Sponsorship Scheme. She is now an active ambassador for the scheme, she has helped to welcome other newcomers, and she is involved in Share QSN's Refugee Advisor Programme.

Above, you can watch Angham's speech during a Share QSN conference in October 2022.

Angham's Top Tips

• Identify newcomers' skills, and find ways to accommodate them. For example, if they are a carpenter, give them something to fix. It will give them courage and dignity. People want to feel needed by their new community.

• Identify possible set-backs for the family - for example, their preconceived ideas of your culture, language, homesickness, concerns about inequality and wellbeing. Support the family to address these through techniques, resources and assurances.

• Provide basic training to everyone who welcomes. It is important to have a good understanding of social housing and social welfare systems.

• Develop a committee of people who have resettled, who can help to provide support as new people arrive. (See the module above for examples of this in France and Spain).