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Open Call: Communities for Afghans Phase 2 (United Kingdom)

Deadline: 10-Apr-25

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government “the Department”, is seeking to run a competition and enter grant funding arrangements to establish partner VCSE, “Principal Sponsors”, to work with them to lead community sponsorship organisations to deliver a second phase of the “Communities for Afghans project”.

Communities for Afghans is a sponsorship scheme for eligible Afghan individuals and family groups, modelled on the Home Office’s Community Sponsorship scheme, but with a focus on expanding capacity and pace. The scheme will enable community groups to directly welcome and support a resettled family into their local community. It is designed and delivered in partnership with the Department, councils and communities and promotes positive resettlement outcomes, both for the resettled households and for those who support them.

The scheme is designed to ensure that it can support an initial cohort of 500 Afghan households (approximately 2750 individuals) under the Afghan Resettlement Programme to settle in the UK under the scheme as quickly as possible.  The size of family varies and can be large and/or have complex needs which are likely to be prioritised for Government assisted accommodation.

Aims
  • The aim of the scheme is for:
    • VCSE organisations to become “Principal Sponsors” that recruit “community Sponsor Groups” who come together to support a resettled household by sourcing accommodation for a period of three-years and providing integration support; the accommodation should meet council standards and be appropriate for the household Sponsor Groups should support households with integration and local orientation. Most responsibilities and non-statutory duties for the scheme will be devolved to civil society. They expect Principal Sponsors to recruit and support sponsors groups throughout the scheme, by making sure they have appropriate training. Their role will also be to coordinate Sponsor Groups and resettled households and provide specialist support such as required for example through mental health provision.
    • Councils to play a key role in administering funding for the scheme through the tariff and funding and support to Sponsor Groups, as well as carrying out key safeguarding activities and integration provision. Sponsor Groups should engage early with their relevant council to ensure a successful match.
    • The Department would have overall responsibility for delivery and involvement in some vetting activities. Other government departments would continue to lead on specific areas, including: Home Office, who owns the visa application and issuance process, they will also match households to schemes at least until a viable alternative is decided and carry out DBS checks; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Ministry of Defence (MOD), who would maintain responsibility for support out of country; the Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would all have key roles in supporting ongoing integration.
Objectives
  • They are inviting applications for this grant funding with the aim of partnering with one or more VCSE Principal Sponsors to lead phase 2 of the Communities for Afghan sponsorship scheme. They will retain flexibility on this, depending on the bid and geographical coverage of those they receive. The Principal Sponsors would have primary responsibility for recruitment, and support of community Sponsor Groups. They ask that Principal Sponsors set out initial alternative proposals for matching households to Sponsor Groups, though Home Office matching will be used at least in part until a viable alternative is agreed.
  • They intend to have a one training provider with the Home Office for Community Sponsorship and MHCLG’s Communities for Afghans. The requirement will be for core training modules across both schemes, as well as additional scheme-specific modules. However, MHCLG may require Principal Sponsors to provide Communities for Afghans this training until a single training provider is stood up.
  • Principal Sponsors can work directly with community Sponsor Groups and/or partner with other organisations such as veterans’ charities and faith groups to expand capacity, although retaining ultimate responsibility as part of the Grant Funding Agreement. They would also consider applications from a consortium of organisations, as long as appropriate agreements are in place and one organisation is identified as the lead recipient for the Grant Funding Agreement.
  • This approach will allow greater flexibility and offer an opportunity to those organisations who do not have the capacity or experience to act as Principal Sponsor to take-on some form of coordination role.
Funding Information
  • Funding will be provided on a quarterly basis and will depend on performance.
  • The total funding available in this grant is up to £4.145 million for Principal Sponsors covering the financial years 2025/26 through to the end of 2030/31 for delivery of the Communities for Afghans phase 2 scheme across the UK. Their intention is to advertise for a Communities for Afghans training provider, for a Grant Funding Agreement to be in place by 1 August 2025. However, they may award £500,000 to Principal Sponsors through this grant advert for Communities for Afghans core training modules. Timing and funding are TBC and will be announced on Find a Grant.
  • £4.145 million is the total for all organisations acting as Principal Sponsors and will be divided depending on the portion of the 500 households being supported. This funding split is for the Principal Sponsor is to cover administration and training.
  • Funding of £909 per person is available for the Sponsor Group to cover upfront costs including rental deposits, first month’s rent or other initial costs. There is no cap on household size. Principal Sponsors will be asked to distribute this money to Sponsor Groups.
  • Additional funding of £136 per person per month for three years is available for ongoing monthly costs, including help with rental costs for example. There is no cap on household size. This will be paid via their council. Project proposals should reflect this funding profile and should show annual spend and deliverables.
  • They expect to fund up to 4 VCSEs to act as Principal Sponsors but they retain flexibility depending on the applications they receive. The Department may ask organisations to scale up or scale down their proposals, and/or to consider broadening out to include other cohorts in scope of the Fund, if relevant. Consortia of more than four organisations are eligible as long as there is a lead organisation, but they do not intend to partner with more than 4 Principal Sponsors/Consortiums.
  • They are encouraging applicants to submit proposals for projects that can be up and running swiftly after being notified that they are successful. They expect projects to be operational in August 2025 and run until the end of March 2031.
Eligibility Criteria
  • To apply for this fund your organisation must be aligned with the Voluntary and Community and Social Enterprise Sector, registered in the UK and will need to be an Incorporated Organisation. The organisation must:
    • be established for charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic purposes (see list of eligible organisations below)
    • have a governing body with at least 3 members
    • have a governing document they can produce
    • have capacity to deliver an expected minimum of 125 sponsorship arrangements. Submissions below this number may be unsuccessful should minimum requirements be satisfactorily provided by other Principal Sponsors. Bids should set out the minimum and maximum (between 125 and 500 sponsor arrangements) that will be financially viable. The £4.145milion will be divided by the number of sponsor arrangements a Principal Sponsor and the Department agree they will deliver
  • A full list of eligible organisations can be found below.
    • ‘Charity’ – A registered charity with a UK charity number or a registered CIC (community interest company).
    • ‘Community group’ – A group which meets all the following criteria:
      • established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes;
      • has a governing body with at least three members;
      • has a governing document which they are able to produce;
      • can provide accounts for the last two financial years.
    • ‘Community Interest Company’ - a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders.
    • ‘Social enterprise’ – a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners”.
    • Other voluntary and community organisations.
    • ‘Consortium’ – a group of applicants, with a designated lead partner to manage the scheme, and a system for dividing the work and funds appropriately and effectively. The lead partner must be a charity or a community group with a charitable purpose.
    • Organisations must be based in the United Kingdom and provide an offer that can cover England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For more information, visit Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.