Refugees at Home is an independent
charity
Charity may refer to:
Common meanings
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...
which finds temporary accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers with host families in the UK.
By the middle of 2025 Refugees at Home had arranged hosts for over 6800 refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution from more than 70 countries, on about 700,000 placement nights (one person in a bed for one night).
People
Refugees at Home was set up in 2015 by Timothy Nathan, Nina Kaye and
Sara Nathan as a response to the
Syrian Refugee Crisis.
The charity is led by Executive Director Lauren Scott, who was awarded an MBE in 2022 in recognition of her work for refugees. It is chaired by Daniel Gerring, partner at law firm
Travers Smith, who provide ongoing support. Its patrons include
Lord Alf Dubs and comedian
Shappi Khorsandi
Shaparak Khorsandi (, ; born 8 June 1973), who previously performed as Shappi Khorsandi, is an Iranian-born British comedian and author. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi.
Her family left Iran for ...
. It currently has c20 staff, supported by a large number of volunteers.
Refugees at Home relies on its network of qualified volunteer home visitors who assess homes and hosts, and the many British hosts who offer to provide temporary accommodation. There are 12,000 people registered to host through Refugees at Home.
Work
Refugees at Home matches British hosts with a spare room to refugees and asylum seekers in need of somewhere to stay.
The charity uses professionally qualified home visitors to assess potential hosts and to carefully match hosts to guests. It also provides an ongoing link and support in order to give placements the best chance of success.
Refugees at Home works closely with a range of partners such as the
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...
,
Refugee Council
The Refugee Council is a UK-based organisation which works with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The ...
,
Refugee Action
Refugee Action is an independent national charity founded in 1981 that provides advice and support to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and campaigns for a fairer asylum system. It is governed by a board of trustees chaired by Penny Lawrence. ...
,
Crisis (charity)
Crisis is the United Kingdom, UK national charity for people experiencing homelessness. The charity offers year-round education, employment, housing and well-being services from centres in East London, Newcastle, Oxford, Edinburgh, South Wales, ...
and NACCOM, who refer guests for hosting.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Refugees at Home has been one of the UK government's 'Recognised Providers' helping to find sponsors for refugees under the
Homes for Ukraine scheme
Profile
Refugees at Home received widespread media coverage in September 2020 when former English footballer and BBC broadcaster,
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
, worked with the charity to host a refugee. After being confronted on Twitter about his personal response to the refugee crisis, Mr Lineker responded with a picture of the charity's confirmation that he had signed up to host. Lineker received a letter of thanks from Rasheed, a Pakistani refugee who stayed with him for 20 days, which he said 'made it worthwhile'.
More recently, British actor
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Benedict Cumberbatch, various accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurenc ...
was widely reported for talking about his desire to host Ukrainian refugees through Refugees at Home. His work with the charity was featured in Hello! Magazine’s ‘Kind List’ in November 2022.
British television presenter and
Countdown
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
host
Rachel Riley
Rachel Annabelle Riley (born 11 January 1986) is an English television presenter. She co-presents the Channel 4 daytime puzzle show '' Countdown'' and its comedy spin-off ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown''. She is a mathematics graduate.
He ...
has also hosted through Refugees at Home, describing the charity’s work as ‘life-changing’.
Refugees at Home's overall aim is for hosting to be normalised as a way of welcoming those fleeing war and persecution in other countries to the UK.
See also
*
Homes for Ukraine
References
{{reflist
Charities based in the United Kingdom
Refugee aid organizations