Through a new government scheme, people in the UK will be able to house refugees fleeing Ukraine who have been granted a visa.
So far, 4,000 visas have been issued to Ukrainians with family in the UK. The government, which has been criticised for its slow response to the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis, expects to provide “tens of thousands” more, according to the levelling up secretary, Michael Gove.
Three Britons who are thinking about offering to house Ukrainian refugees speak about why they are taking the step and what challenges they may encounter.
‘I would like to think that somebody would do the same for me’
Jo Cooksey, a 56-year-old civil servant in Tameside, Greater Manchester, has been thinking about opening her home to refugees since people started fleeing Ukraine. “I can’t just sit by and watch this horror unfolding,” Cooksey says. “The Polish have been amazing, the way they’ve just opened the border and taken everybody who wants to go, but, obviously, Poland can’t sustain that. I thought maybe there was a chance that we would be able to help. I would like to think that somebody would do the same for me, you know?”
The 56-year-old, who has had a spare room since her daughter moved out, says she “would offer [her] home to a woman with a child or an elderly person” for “as long as it takes.” The homes for Ukraine programme asks people to commit to providing housing for a minimum of six months. “At the moment, we just have no idea about what’s going to happen,” she says. “It’s a big leap of faith to offer a home to a stranger. You’re not going to know this person, and you won’t know anything about their background until you meet them. However, that won’t put me off trying to help.”
‘My kids are all up for it’
Kyleen Kelly, 37, a part-time dental receptionist in Taunton, Somerset, has already donated money and items to local collections for Ukraine, but says she wants to keep helping refugees in whatever way she can. “I’ve got three children and I can’t imagine what they’re going through. It just breaks my heart every time I see women and children having to leave their fathers and their uncles and their grandfathers behind because they’re still fighting, and their homes being ruined and have to leave with nothing,” she says.
Kelly and her partner live with their children in a four-bedroom house, and plan to move two of the kids into one room to make space for another family. “I’ve got a double bed and a travel cot and a camp bed, so I’ve got enough room to take three or four people. We’ve got a garden and a big enough dining room that they can sit and have dinner with us, and things like that, if they wanted to. My kids are all up for it. They’re all aware of what’s happening, so they’re happy to help.”
She says she doesn’t know what kind of challenges hosting a family may involve, but is ready to take each one as it comes. “If they don’t speak much English, we’ll use the internet to translate. It’s just a case of going with it. I know they’re not going to feel at home. I just want to give them a little bit of kindness.”
‘We’d hoped something like this was going to be set up for Syria’
Theresa Sullivan, a 55-year-old nurse in Greater London, said she and her husband decided they would offer to house refugees “the minute [they] heard” it would be possible.
Sullivan, who volunteers at a food bank that supports asylum seekers, had hoped to open her home to Syrian refugees but had been disappointed with the lack of government support. “We hoped that something like this was going to be set up back then – it was so frustrating to watch everything that was happening and not be able to do anything for those refugees and know how bad the plight was. Maybe we can help with this crisis, at least, if we really weren’t there for the Syrians.”
While Sullivan has some experience working with asylum seekers in the UK, she has never offered accommodation to people she doesn’t know. “It’s a choice I’m glad I have and can make. I’m sure it won’t be that easy for either of us. But that’s part of the challenge,” she says. “I think it is scary for people to think about doing this and there are risks … but you’ve got to accept all that and just hope you can bring good about despite it. It’s not a reason not to try to do good.”
‘Those fleeing the war need certainty now’
Ben Fielding, 65, is already in touch with a Ukrainian family who are trying to reach the UK, and is ready to share his home in Kent with them. “My son, who’s in the RAF, has reached out to a Ukrainian he knows to offer sanctuary to his wife and children while he remains in Ukraine to join the military,” he says.
The family are still in Ukraine but are hoping to reach Poland in the next few days and, from there, travel to the UK. However, the portal for visa applications is not set to go live until Friday, and Fielding worries that the government is not acting quickly enough. “What families like these need is certainty that they will be allowed to travel to the UK and to be able to stay with us,” he says, adding that while he understands that such schemes take time to organise: “This family do not have this time.”
“It seems to me that the UK government is fiddling while Ukraine burns and innocent women and children suffer. Those fleeing the war need certainty now, so they can make plans while there is still time.”
