It's nearly a month since a terrified Ukrainian family was offered a safe home in North Tyneside - yet they're still trapped in their besieged home country.
On March 26, Gemma Saleh, from Whitley Bay, applied through the Government's Homes for Ukraine Scheme for visas for a mum and five-year-old daughter with whom she'd connected online.
But 26 days later, the pair are still living in their home town, near Vinnytsia, in West-Central Ukraine, desperately awaiting a safe route out. The pair, who don't wish to be named, are scared to find themselves homeless if they leave for a nearby country like Poland, but the longer they stay in Ukraine the more danger they face.
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Mum-of-two Gemma, 41, said: "I got in touch with her on March 21, we applied on March 26, yet we are still waiting for a visa. On April 11, two weeks after I submitted the applications I received an email saying they had been received and were being processed. I thought 'brilliant, they're being processed, it should be 32-48 hours', because that's been the experience of other hosts I've spoken to.
"The visas were meant to be with us within 21 says but they still haven't arrived. Last Monday I felt hopeful they'd meet the deadline and get them to us before the Bank Holiday but we've heard nothing.
"Obviously this is an unprecedented situation and it's brilliant that the Government has offered a visa system - because we didn't do that for Afghanistan or Syria - and I know the Home Office must be under pressure, but this is a crisis and in a crisis you need to be prepared.
"This lady is in her village, she doesn't want to be there, she wants to get somewhere safe, somewhere where there's a school for her daughter. We don't even know what's going on, I've had no feedback to say whether the documents are correct, nothing like that.
"It's wholly inadequate. She is a parent, on her own, I feel she is vulnerable, and she's staying put because she doesn't want to leave before she has a visa."
Gemma is in communication with around 30 other local families who've offered rooms to people fleeing Ukraine. She says whilst many have faced similar delays and frustrations with the system, others have had their applications processed more quickly, with no explanation from officials as to why some applications have taken so much longer.
She added: "It's a complete shambles. The community is ready to welcome them, people have got their houses ready, there are food and clothes and toy drives - everyone is doing what they can but we need to get them here.
"This paperwork needs to be processed quickly and efficiently but the Home Office is just delaying and delaying and not being clear."
A government spokesperson said: “Thanks to the incredible generosity of the UK public, more than 56,000 visas have been granted under the Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine Family schemes in the last five weeks.
“Some applicants have been waiting a long time for their application to be progressed or an outcome to be communicated.
“The Home Office has made changes to streamline the visa system – including simplifying the forms and boosting staff numbers so applications can be processed more quickly.”
Gemma said she was concerned that those who applied earlier in the scheme may have missed out on this 'streamlining' and therefore wait longer for their applications to be approved. We put this concern to the Government but the spokesperson did not respond.
