Urgent plea for more Homes for Ukraine sponsors as war rages on and winter approaches

Refugees Welcome: Ukrainians who have found homes in the UK tell Holly Bancroft about their joys and worries as thousands more look for sponsors in the UK

More sponsors are desperately needed for the Homes for Ukraine scheme as the continuing war and the prospect of harsh winter weather fuels increasing demand from refugees, frontline charities have warned.

Some 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK through the government’s flagship Homes for Ukraine scheme, data up to the middle of October shows.

But the initial six-month requirement for placements is now starting to run out for refugees who came to the UK at the start of the programme in March.

‘We are not here to be pitied but we are here to be understood,’ Oleksandra said (Supplied)

The Ukrainian Sponsorship Pathway (USPUK), a charity set up after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to help support the scheme, is now on a drive to find new hosts as the war rages on.

“We are currently in touch with 4,000 Ukrainians [who are looking for sponsors in the UK] and expect this number to rise over the winter months,” trustee Heather Savory said.

“The UK has done a lot in its support for Ukraine, now is not the time to turn away. We are now on a drive to find new hosts, as the war sadly looks set to continue and the humanitarian situation set to worsen.”

The number of sponsors signing up for the scheme is decreasing, said Anastasiia Spivak, a Ukrainian USPUK employee who fled the war.

“The local council doesn’t have a magic pool of sponsors and it is always good to have more sponsors who can help, who would be open to this situation.

“As soon as winter comes, as soon as freezing and cold weather comes, the situation in Ukraine is going to get worse and at some point desperate. We are really just trying to find more people who are able to help,” she added.

Angelina’s family are living under Russian occupation in Ukraine (Joell Carillet/ Supplied)

Wycombe homeless prevention, a charity in Buckinghamshire, has started to see Ukrainians on the Homes for Ukraine scheme seek urgent help as their placements break down.

James Boultbee, chief executive officer, said: “We’ve ended up involved in a few cases where host families have said we need out our people out really quick; whether something’s gone wrong or it’s coming up to the deadline.

“Sponsors say they’ve done their bit now. I’m hearing lots and lots of people saying that they won’t carry on. I just wonder what will happen if the council suddenly has to have hundreds of refugees put up into temporary accommodation. That will put a lot of pressure onto the system this winter.”

Simone Schehtman, the lead pairer of Ukrainian refugees and hosts in Birmingham, urged the government to increase payments to hosts.

“We need a framework of support of what happens after 12 months. Host payments should increase immediately, in good part due to the cost of living crisis but also because hosts are doing so much more than offering just roof or shelter,” she said.

Myroslava was on holiday in Turkey when Russia invaded Ukraine (Supplied)

A government spokesperson said that they were giving hosts £350 thank-you payments to cover additional costs and “all arrivals have access to benefits and employment from day one”.

“Councils have a duty to ensure families are not left without a roof over their heads and we’re giving them £10,500 to provide this support,” they said.

The Independent’s Refugees Welcome campaign has called for the UK to lead the way in supporting those forced to flee the war in Ukraine.

‘I realised I had nowhere to return’

Myroslava Ulianina was visiting a friend in Turkey when, on 24 February, Russia invaded Ukraine. With only a small holiday bag, packed for a three day trip, she realised she could not go home.

She managed to find refuge with a family in Portugal for three months and during that time she received news that her house in Kyiv had been destroyed.

“I realised I had nowhere to return,” she told The Independent. On hearing about the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, she thought she would move to London and use her near-fluent English to help her resettle.

“I have big ambitions and I like being in a big city. I came to London on the 26 June and I am totally in love with the country, with people, with the culture,” she said.

“I feel like a fish in water because of the language, because of the diversity of people, and because London is a multinational city.”

Vladimir Putin’s devastating attacks on Ukraine continue, with Kyiv targeted on Monday (AP)

Ms Ulianina is a nutritionist and is doing some private consultations online. She is also looking for work, having previously worked in Ukraine helping big corporate companies improve the health and wellbeing of their employees.

“We have a really big desire to be a functional part of society,” she said, referring to all Ukrainian refugees. “I really just want to help the UK and to be part of a society. Now I live with this family but I don’t know what next. I have to be able to rent a house in the future, and the prices are very high for rent.”

She has loved her host placement and is woken each morning by her sponsor’s two children, who are five and seven, running into her room to give her a hug. However her parents are still in Ukraine and she worries for them.

Referring to Russia’s recent airstrikes across Ukraine, she said: “This Monday we understood that there is no safe place in Ukraine now. All Ukrainians here live in two different worlds; one world is here but one part of our brain is all the time connected back home and thinking about the people we know who are still there.”

Back in Ukraine, Ms Ulianina was well-known as a host on the TV game show The Biggest Loser, which puts contestants through a weight loss regime.

“I’m a person who used to plan everything but now it’s so complicated to plan for the future. Everything can be changed in an hour.”

‘We have become like our grandmothers, who say everything is better than war’

Oleksandra has found a position in British telecoms in the UK (Supplied)

Oleksandra and her husband realised in May that the war in Ukraine was not getting any better. They decided that Oleksandra would take their three-year-old daughter and go to London, where both parents had studied and worked in the past and where, fortunately, a colleague from her husband’s work was willing to take them in.

Living in London as a single parent has not been easy, she said. “I try to think positively and I really appreciate the support we have had. At the same time it can still be frustrating, having no support network in a different country trying to navigate the bureaucratic procedures.”

It was a battle to get her daughter into a nursery and there were times when she felt like a second class citizen, Oleksandra said.

“If you want Ukrainian refugees to not be on universal credit and to be in the workforce, and they have kids, then they need to figure out where to put their kids so they can do their jobs,” she added.

Millions of Ukrainians have left their country since the war began in February, fleeing to European countries like Germany (AP)

Oleksandra now has a position in British telecoms. It is several grades lower than her previous roles at the Ukrainian airline and at other start-ups, but she is grateful to not be jobless.

“We are real people just as you are. We are not here to be pitied but we are here to be understood and we really want to contribute. We want to be a functioning part of the society and we want to be helpful,” she said in fluent English.

She has been incredibly grateful for the support of her host family. “I don’t know if I could ever give back enough of the support that they provided for me and my daughter,” she said.

She is uncertain what the future will hold for her family and ultimately wants to return to Ukraine when she is able.

“We are becoming like our grandmothers who were always saying that everything is better than war,” she continued. “Whatever difficulties we might go through, they are still not war.

“I hope that the world can contain the evil and we do everything we can to make sure that this never happens again.”

‘My sponsors are my angels’

Angelina has started volunteering at a local school (Supplied)

Angelina only arrived to the UK three weeks ago and is now settled in Guildford on the Homes for Ukraine scheme. “My lovely sponsors are my angels,” she said. She has already started volunteering at the local school and has found a position as an after school club assistant.

“In Ukraine, I used to teach kids English and Music. I want to be helpful here and I can especially help the new Ukrainian kids,” she told The Independent.

Her family are in the Kherson region of Ukraine, under Russian occupation, and she can only contact them intermittently because the Russians can block the internet connection.

“I can’t even imagine my tiny town under this pressure, that disgusting things can happen here, it is hard emotionally to accept it,” she said.

“Here we see people smiling and having fun and that’s life. And then you call your parents and you hear what is going on in my hometown and it is completely surreal.”

“Thanks to the UK we have an opportunity to be in a safe place, without bombs and air raid signals.”

Speaking about her family, she added: “I hope to see them one day in good health, without injuries, it would be the best thing that would happen in my life. In the past, I dreamt about things like holidays and travel.

“Now I only have one dream; to see my parents live and hug them.”

These three women have all been supported by the Ukrainian Sponsorship Pathway.