A website which has been coined, "Tinder for refugees", has been created to allow people who are fleeing Ukraine to find a home in the UK. The matching service connecting British households and Ukrainians has been developed in an attempt to help those seeking asylum.
Called Project UKraine, it takes a few seconds to sign up and an algorithm will find an applicant that matches your established criteria. It has been created by Alexey Shmatko and Igor Kononko, in an attempt to "simplify the process" of helping the most vulnerable who have fled the country to "find peace and heal."
Mr Shmatko was born in Russia but has family links to Ukraine. He previously moved to Wales to seek political asylum, ending up in Swansea, so knows first hand what the experience is like for those who are currently being forced to flee war-torn Ukraine without anything after the invasion by Russian troops. He and Mr Kononko now hope they can help others. We recently interviewed Swansea-based Ukrainian lecturer Dmitri Finkelshtein, who shared the ordeal his parents were currently going through in Kyiv. You can read more about that by clicking here.
READ MORE: Couple share bedroom with their two kids so they can take in Ukrainian family
Mr Shmatko explained: "I know how it would be for them, being without nothing. I came to the UK without money, without connections, without a relationship, nothing. I spent a few months in a detention centre at Heathrow and then Links house in Cardiff where I met some people from Syria, Iran and other countries. I spent a lot of time, for example, fighting with the Home Office in court. I spent a full year trying to prove my story and what happened. I won in the High Court an extradition case. My new home is now the UK, two of my three kids were born in Swansea.
"Our idea is like Tinder for refugees. It is quite easy, they go on the website and register as a host or a refugee, and fill in a little form, and when they find a match which is suitable they can connect with each other when we exchange their details, like e-mails or WhatsApp, allowing them to call or text each other and they can both apply to the Home Office."
The new website has already had great success, according to the pair, within a matter of days of it first launching. Mr Shmatko explained: "It is going quite well. In a few days we have already found two couples a place to live. I was quite surprised, I see on Twitter a lot of interest from people who believe in helping people. We have already found 100 people who want to be a host and that's just in one day." You can get all the latest updates on the invasion of Ukraine by signing up to our newsletters.
You can visit the Project UKraine website by clicking here. You can also follow the project on Twitter by clicking here.
