What you need to do

After recruitment, participants should be onboarded in a similar way to staff and volunteers (which includes all necessary clearances). It is important to attribute a positive status to the role of refugee participant. It is a status to celebrate and be proud of, so you should consider providing things like ID badges and some equipment, where relevant, especially for the more formal and durable opportunities. Where relevant, provide participants with a welcome booklet containing all relevant information about the role, the organisation, relevant services, and the participation process. Participants should also be able to give informed consent about the recording and use of their personal data.

Participants should be provided with ongoing support, even outside of participation activities. Regular communication with participants is crucial for maintaining momentum and interest. This could be done by regular email or social media updates or a newsletter, for instance. These should include things like reports on achievements as well as future activities. Make sure to update them about what will happen next or what has been done with their contributions. Regular social events are best ways to create a cohesive group, these events maintain a better power dynamic between members. Encourage participants to co-produce such communication and cascade any relevant information to other members of their communities. Finally, create some regular feedback mechanism, so participants can always voice their views. Maybe they remember or found out something after a meeting concluded or sought feedback from the communities they represent.

Suggested actions

• Create a profile for a participation role (you may think about specific activities, or recruitment for an advisory, forum or similar type of participation group). Include the role description and a person specification for participants. What skills and experience would you be looking at, if any?
• Design a participant recruitment process for your service or organisation, clearly identifying all the stages and the staff/teams who could be mobilised (remember to include things such as promotion/advertising of roles, interviewing, DBS checks if appropriate)