Stories of Sanctuary: Creating a welcoming home for refugees

Anna is an artist and make-up designer for film and TV, living in Walthamstow. She shared her experience of becoming a volunteer host with charity Refugees at Home. 

“Refugees at Home had been on my radar two years prior to me even signing up. I remember listening to a podcast shining a light on countries that are not normally in the mainstream media that are going through multiple crises, and that’s what made me revisit the Refugees at Home website.

“Reading everything on the website I learnt you only need a sofa bed. You can do it short term; you don’t have to do it for a year or two years. It can be an emergency stop for people in between things. So that was what gave me the confidence to sign up. Everyone at Refugees at Home was so lovely and welcoming, it felt like the right timing.”

Bonding over khachapuri

“One of the guests who stayed with me was a 60-year-old woman from Georgia, with bright purple hair and bright lipstick. She was amazing, it was like having an auntie. She made us khachapuri one night, which is a traditional Georgian dish. There was a lovely moment when the sun was coming into the house, and she knew her way around the kitchen. My kids were dipping in and out from the garden and then coming back in to help her.

“We had some really lovely times, and she fit into our routine, with mutual respect and boundaries. It worked really well, as if I was hosting any other friend or family member. We still meet up to this day, and she likes to know what's going on with the kids.” 

The impact on family

“I think it's amazing that my kids are going to know about the wider world. They also went to church for an event at Christmas time. The priest asked, ‘does anyone know anything about refugees?’ and my son's hand shot straight up and he’s only seven. It was heartwarming that he knew and was able to talk about it so confidently, it makes me proud. It’s so easy to live in a bubble and you can get information from the news, but they're having a direct experience with people seeking asylum and refugees. That almost makes it more worth it over anything.” 

“The role of each host is so different, it's dependent on what capacity you have and how much you can put into. Some people might have all the time in the world and their role might be committing to hosting someone for a year and they can cook for them all the time, supporting with filling out forms. And someone that is busy but does have a spare room could host a night or two nights a week, and you put your boundaries in place before. 

“You're really supported by the charity, and the referrer of the guest is involved as well. You’re really supported. It's a unique opportunity and even if you have a sofa bed and a short amount of time, you could be a huge impact for someone else’s life.”

Refugees at Home

Refugees at Home connect people to refugees and people seeking asylum who are in need of somewhere to stay.

In Waltham Forest, we value and celebrate the migrants, refugees, and people seeking sanctuary who have settled in Waltham Forest and are proud to be a Borough of Sanctuary.

In December 2023 we launched our Borough of Sanctuary Framework and were officially recognised as a Borough of Sanctuary through the national charity City of Sanctuary.