An entrepreneur and investor on BBC programme Dragons’ Den has announced he has signed up to offer his home to a Ukrainian family fleeing the war as part of the UK government’s sponsorship scheme.
Steven Bartlett, the 29-year-old author and podcaster, said he had applied to the initiative and hoped to house refugees in the spare room of his home in London.
Under the scheme, which was announced on Monday, individual sponsors will be asked to provide homes or a spare room rent-free for as long as they are able, with a minimum stay of six months. In return, they will receive £350 a month.
Bartlett, the founder and former CEO of social media marketing agency The Social Chain, said he would donate the money to the Disasters Emergency Committee, which is carrying out work in Ukraine.
The entrepreneur, who was born in Botswana to a Nigerian mother and a British father, wrote on Twitter: “I have a spare room at my home here in London so I’ve signed up to offer it to a Ukrainian family.
“The 350 monthly fee for housing a refugee family will be donated to decappeal who [fellow Dragons’ Den investor] Deborah Meaden recommended for their ongoing work in Ukraine.”
Bartlett, who hosts The Diary of a CEO podcast and set up The Social Chain from his bedroom in Manchester, urged his followers to join him in applying to the scheme and shared a link.
He becomes the latest celebrity after Cher and Benedict Cumberbatch to express an interest in housing Ukrainians who have left their country after the Russian invasion.
More than 150,000 people had registered their interest in the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme before its launch.
However concerns have been raised by refugee charities about bureaucracy, safeguarding and resourcing.
