Will you be opening your home up to Ukrainian refugees?

[musicalfrog]

Interested to see how popular this will be considering so many of us want desperately to make a tangible difference.

My OH wouldn't be up for it I don't think, and we don't have a spare room so I will avoid that particular argument. But otherwise I think it would be such a great thing to do.

The govt is asking for a minimum commitment of 6 months. Will you be signing up?

Or Chelsea football stadium ! That should be available in a few days !

@oakleaffy You're totally right, and that's my issue. DF has offered it, and I can see the logic, but I know in normal circumstances he wouldn't ever want to leave his home. Just read that they only want homes in cities so it won't work anyway so thankfully no longer his or my decision to make

[quote CannaBelieve]@oakleaffy

But how would someone on benefits heat/furnish those huge homes?[/quote]
My DH works in the construction industry often refurbing houses bought my Russian oligarchs trust me furniture s not going to be an issue, not to everyone taste yes but lack of furniture not an issue 😀.

I do hope that the hosts are vetted correctly. I saw a man "joke" on a FB post that he would be happy to take in "a hotty refugee woman, maybe two".
Oh god, I hadn't even thought of that. Its a vile thing to say.

When the Syrian scheme was running a few years ago, we actually offered up a room but we were rejected upon the basis of DCs behaviour (they asked whether DC were likely to change it but I said that it was honestly unlikely!). DCs have clamed down since then but they can still be challenging.

Covid has also made me a lot more antisocial so I would not want to do this anymore, despite having many empty rooms in my house in London. I know that one should not generalize but you could end up with a functioning/new alcoholic, a racist, an anti-Semite or even a Putin sympathizer (as some Ukrainians have always been). I would also deeply resent any networking taking place under my roof among displaced people even though it is therapeutically speaking, a positive thing.

Absolutely not. What checks could they feasibly do considering the logistics & probably no access to many records that the person coming wasn't a rapist or murderer!
I understand 99.9% are not any of those things.
I wouldn't take a stranger off the streets here for that very same reason.
I would only take in a friend/family member I knew.

Yes, we will. We have 2 spare rooms and would welcome Ukranians regardless of age/ sex. I think one of the older ladies who are all on their own would be particularly happy here, but anyone is welcome.

@Cryofthecurlew

Does anyone know the exact rational for saying only those in cities can offer accommodation. Is it because of access to support etc. Where I live many people live in largish homes often with spare bedrooms as property prices are often quite a lot cheaper than some parts of the UK and we have a significantly higher % of pensioners than many other areas many of whom like my neighbours live in 3,4,5 bedroom house but are only utilising 1/2 rooms. We also have lots of tiny primaries struggling to survive/being threatened with closure.

Transport, jobs, support organisations, proximity to others from their community.

If you had to move to say, China - would you prefer to live in a big house in a beautiful little village with no train station and where no one speaks English and there are no other Europeans. No jobs for people who don't speak the language.
Or just a room or little flat in a big city that has a good public transport system, an English church/shop/community centre, lots of European immigrants who do speak the language and support organisations with English speakers offering language classes and help filling in forms.

I know where I would at least want to get started.

@Citabell Sorry, wasn't clear, this was initiated by DF, but I know it would have a huge impact on him which is why I'm questioning it. We asked him to stay with us during lockdown and he refused, so I don't think he'd want this in any other circumstance

If you can only help if you're in a city or town then we're out. We're in the middle of nowhere.

@Fayekrista

Absolutely not. What checks could they feasibly do considering the logistics & probably no access to many records that the person coming wasn't a rapist or murderer! I understand 99.9% are not any of those things. I wouldn't take a stranger off the streets here for that very same reason. I would only take in a friend/family member I knew.

Realistically, the likelihood of a mum with a couple of kids or a little old lady being a rapist or a murderer is so low it's not something I'd worry about.

I think that it's something that we could do. Six months is a long time initially though as you might not necessarily get on. We might need to rejig things as my husband works from home in the spare room though as needs lots of peace and quiet. Will look into it.

I have spent time in many countries in that part of the world. Out of all the places I have lived in/visited, I felt most ill-at-ease there. I do not think they would oblige if the shoe were on the other foot based on my personal interactions. They would most likely restrict it to White, British, Christian, Anglo-Saxon blah blah. You can see how they have been differentiating between people trying to het out at the borders.

My ancestors arrived here from Europe in trying circumstances but I know that they had a very different outlook and attitude towards assimilation and were also well educated/cultured.

I do wonder how many people who have spent the last week slating the government for taking time to process applications to come to the UK, to enable security checks to be made, are now saying that they couldn't possibly take in a refugee as they don't know that person's background.

What happens at the end of the 6 months?

Either they are able to move back to Ukraine.

Or they get settled here with jobs and schools for their kids and once they are earning an income they will move into their own homes.

I don't think any refugee would want to impose on others' goodwill for any longer than they had to, and I'm sure they'd want their independence too.

Of course, some Ukrainians will also be but it's pot luck

@Tulipomania

What happens at the end of the 6 months?

Either they are able to move back to Ukraine.

Or they get settled here with jobs and schools for their kids and once they are earning an income they will move into their own homes.

I don't think any refugee would want to impose on others' goodwill for any longer than they had to, and I'm sure they'd want their independence too.

But realistically, considering how efficient and equipped we are in 2022, how/when would that ever happen. Optimism is great but not when it clashes with realism. Due to the looming recession, once inflation takes off, a lot of the unfilled vacancies in the service sector will turn into vanishing vacancies as businesses close.

If I lived on my own & had a spare room then yes I would or if I had a family & a home large enough to have something like an annex then yes but as it is we don't have the space

I don't think any refugee would want to impose on others' goodwill for any longer than they had to, and I'm sure they'd want their independence too.

Well, not necessarily. Lots of people in the uk are happy to impose on others’ goodwill, and aren’t too fussed about independence either - see all the many cf threads on here.

@oakleaffy

Why would it matter if it WAS a housing association or council home??

No I wouldn’t.

We have two spare rooms so I want to but I just couldn't for 6 months unfortunately.

If some sort of 'short term' thing comes up then yes, I'll be signing up

As for stating that empty homes should all be repurposed, I strongly disagree. Many people have worked hard for their homes which could have been bought in place of say, a pension. Most are not oligarchs but people working abroad or in blended relationships undecided about what to do with their previous home.

Citabell I totally understand what your saying but it seems a shame when I lived n London didn’t have the space to offer a home to a budgie let alone a refugee but noe I’m rattling around in a large house!! Hopefully there are enough city dwellers to offer accommodation.

do you understand that there are many complexities involved with street homeless people that can't always be solved by just giving them a home?

Not to derail, but I think Finland has a 'homes first' policy where homeless people are 'just' given a home and then the problems of their mental health/substance abuse/worklessness/debt/gambling problems are tackled subsequently. And it has been very successful in keeping formerly street sleepers and, if you like, 'chronically' homeless, safely homed and off the streets. Which makes absolute clear sense really, because how can you tackle substance abuse in someone who has no fixed abode.

As to the original question: I need to find out about this. I have been thinking to myself that we could manage it, but only for a few weeks at a time while some more permanent arrangement were made for the people we we were hosting. And we could do that repeatedly.

Six months minimum sounds too tall an order, because our 'spare' rooms are actually my DS' rooms and he comes and goes from university, and to host someone for that length of time would mean he either couldn't come home or we would have to put stuff in storage and buy/hire different furniture. Which I know sounds lame compared to the horrific upheaval that refugees are facing and fleeing.