Ukrainian refugees arriving in Wales are relying on volunteers to provide them with clothes, toiletries and free advice. Clothes banks are popping up as refugees face a stalled housing sponsorship scheme meaning hundreds remain in hotels across the country.
During the pandemic Newport was home to the most remarkable donation effort after Kamila Jarczak and Gosia Sliwinska shared pleas on social media and through the press. Organised through Kamila’s group Women of Newport, they formed a team of five permanent volunteers and filled six emergency donation hubs at Rodney Parade, Friars Walk shopping centre, Newport Docks and the Westgate Hotel among others.
“We were completely stunned by the response,” Kamila said. “We even had more than 100 volunteers at the Westgate, I couldn’t remember everyone’s names. I’ve met so many lovely and wonderful friends through this - some who will be friends for life.”
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In April they were informed they would need to move out of the Westgate and Friars Walk, and management at the Kingsway Centre in the city offered one of their empty units. “Donations then began to dry up and so we thought it would be best to use the unit in the Kingsway as a sort of free shop, but also a community hub, where refugees could come for items, help and advice,” Kamila continued.
Heading up the store is retired civil servant Helen Oliver, from Cwmbran, who says they are “really busy every day”. “I was sitting there watching the news thinking that if the shoe was on the other foot how would I feel?
“On a few occasions we’ve had more than 40 people in here and it’s not a very big space. Their wait for Universal Credit is five or six weeks. They are receiving a one off payment from the council of £250 per person which they are trying to make last. So you can see the point where they really need us.”
Helen Millington, who is Welsh with Ukrainian parents and also volunteers at the Kingsway unit, added: “On a couple of occasions we’ve come very close to asking people to come back later which we’d have hated to do.”
Most of the refugees visiting the unit are currently living in “welcome centres”. There are now six repurposed hotels and other large buildings used to house them until the Welsh Government organises a sponsor for them. Those staying at the welcome centres are people who decided against organising their own sponsors through social media.
As of July 6, more than 4,000 refugees were in Wales according to the Welsh Government. Volunteers in Newport say they’ve been informed another 300 refugees will be in the Gwent region soon.
“There seems to be a major blockage at the moment because some of the refugees are in hotels for so long,” Helen Oliver said. “And this is becoming a problem because I’ve already met with a sponsor this morning who has been waiting on the list since the beginning of March and is yet to hear anything.
“It’s easier to find people yourself on Facebook because there are droves of people in Ukraine putting adverts online. But many refugees are nervous to match themselves and would rather they be matched by government.”
Oksana Morozko, a bank worker from a village in the west of Ukraine who moved to Wales on her own more than a month ago and is staying with other refugees in a nearby hotel, says she is grateful she is offered free food and free public transport.
“I have been told that at the end of September the government will find a house for me,” she told WalesOnline from the store where has come to get clothes and other essentials. “I am still waiting for an insurance number so I can get on Universal Credit.”
Maiia Krynytska and her son Maik also moved here last month, and are staying in a hotel too. They’ll be moved into a house by July 17, they’ve been told. She says it is vital they move into a house so they can have an address and get Maik into school.
“I’d like to work too and I need the address for that,” Maiia said. “We are really grateful for the shop [clothes bank]. It’s very important because a lot of people come here and don’t have anything. We were told to come here by staff at the hotel.”
The small team of volunteers here are sending donations to the hotel every week. They are also sending medical supplies to Ukraine after Newport council helped them organise a separate location to keep the medication properly.
Helen Oliver added: “Some of the refugees are getting work very fast and I think that’s really important if they do plan on staying here. Sadly a lot of it is menial work, but it’s work they are prepared to do. We’ve met a lot of teachers, doctors - professional people in their home country who have come here and are prepared to do cleaning and food packing.”
Kamila thanked everyone who has supported them - and particularly business owners and landlords who have offered their spaces. “I’m very proud of what has been done,” she said. “I hope it shows that in a disaster you can find something positive. The support we’ve had has been unbelievable.”
Refugees wanting to use the unit to pick up clothes, toiletries and other essentials need to show their visa. The site also welcomes sponsors looking for help and advice. For more information and to find out how you can donate, visit the group’s Facebook page at facebook.com/WomenOfNewport.
In a statement released by the Welsh Government on Wednesday Jane Hutt, minister for social justice, made a plea for more people to come forward to house growing numbers of refugees.
She said: “The pause of new super-sponsor applications will remain in place while we continue to work with partners to help people from Ukraine transition from the welcome centres into longer-term accommodation in communities across Wales. We are working closely with local government colleagues, the NHS and the third sector to ensure people arriving via the super-sponsor route get all the support they need to settle into Wales and into appropriate move-on accommodation.
"We are ensuring that no one will move into alternative accommodation which we have arranged until all safeguarding checks have been completed. Supporting this process of accommodation identification, checks and move on is a major focus of our activity and will remain so in the coming weeks.
“Ensuring there is proper flow of people from our welcome centres to onward accommodation is crucial to ensure we can maximise the support we can offer. To enable this, we have established national contracts to support local government in undertaking DBS checks and property inspections. We have shared the details of Welsh households who have expressed an interest in hosting people from Ukraine and local authorities have been working their way through these offers as quickly as possible to identify suitable accommodation places.
“When war broke out in Ukraine, we saw an overwhelming outpouring of support for people from Ukraine, with thousands of people coming forward to register their support to provide a home. We now need to ask the Welsh public and landlords to come forward to offer to host people from Ukraine. We will shortly be asking households and landlords to register their interest via our website.
“We want to ensure everyone participating in the Homes for Ukraine scheme as hosts or sponsors properly understand what they are signing up to and hosts have access to the support they need. We are funding Housing Justice Cymru to ensure information sessions, training sessions and host-peer support sessions will be arranged for those supporting this scheme in Wales. The service will be available imminently.”
Read next:
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