Power, politics and the potential of private hospitality: volunteer experiences of the UK community sponsorship scheme

Nicholls, Natasha (2026). Power, politics and the potential of private hospitality: volunteer experiences of the UK community sponsorship scheme. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

Preview

Nicholls2025PHD_Redacted.pdf
Text - Redacted Version
Available under License All rights reserved.
Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract

In 2024, over 120 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced, with the majority seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. This unprecedented increase of global displacement has driven the exploration of alternative solutions to the global refugee
situation. Attention has been paid to refugee sponsorship, which involves collaboration between Governments and private actors to facilitate resettlement in communities. Initiated in Canada in the late 1970s, sponsorship has gained traction in the last decade, with over 20 countries piloting national programmes. The UK introduced Community Sponsorship (CS) in 2016, the second of its kind globally.
Despite growing popularity, research on sponsorship, especially concerning volunteer experiences and their broader political implications, remains limited. This gap is notable given that refugee sponsorship relies heavily on volunteers. If national
sponsorship programmes are to be developed and sustained they must recruit, motivate and retain volunteers. Bringing together scholarship on sponsorship and critical and volunteer humanitarianism, this study addresses knowledge gaps around the role of volunteers focusing specifically on how volunteers’ engagement in CS influences relationships with sponsored refugees and ongoing voluntary activity. Employing a qualitative methodology, I utilise walking interviews and online photo-
elicitation interviews to explore volunteer experiences across three timepoints of the CS process: before, during and after the arrival of sponsored families.
Through the lens of hospitality, this study’s conceptual framework encompasses a broad understanding of power and political action. Findings indicate that volunteers engage with power dynamics in complex ways over the two-year resettlement
support period. Volunteers awaiting the arrival of a family exhibit a paternalistic perspective on power. However as relationships developed, by the second timepoint they began to engage with diverse forms of power, involving both dominant and more empowering dynamics, including recognition of refugee agency in the resettlement process. By the end of the two-year formal support period, volunteers in the final
timepoint demonstrated increased political engagement to advocate for refugees. This engagement took place overtly, through direct political advocacy, but also in a more micropolitical form, through forms of quiet, everyday politics. Overall, while dominant power dynamics persist in some volunteer/refugee interactions, CS demonstrates the potential to foster more balanced, reciprocal relationships and increased engagement in political support for refugees, which evolved from initial, humanitarian acts of care. Though community-based resettlement models face critique, these findings underscore the importance of motivating and sustaining volunteer involvement in CS and similar national schemes, as they offer a pathway towards more reciprocal refugee resettlement.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):