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Original poster

Will you be opening your home up to Ukrainian refugees?

999 replies

musicalfrog · 11/03/2022 08:03

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?

OP posts:
FrecklesMalone · 11/03/2022 15:57

I couldn't as we have no spare room and a complex family. If just me and DH yes to a woman and child.

Kendodd · 11/03/2022 15:57

@implantreplace
I heard that and you've got the story completely wrong.
The child was with her grandmother, trying to get to the aunt in the UK. Grandmother had heart attack and is in hospital. Lorry driver was complaining that this child COULDN'T be immediately set to aunt in UK and instead has Visa hoops to jump though to prove she's not a security risk.

FancyAFlapjack · 11/03/2022 15:57

@implantreplace

I’m so angry

Hearing a man on LBC being lauded for bringing a 9 year old over here in his van. Her mother has a heart attack and in hospital so the 9 year old is alone. He was contacted “by her aunt on Facebook”

I am angry because no one seems to be thinking about how vulnerable these children and women are. These children deserve to be protected in the same way a British child should be protected in this county. And no way would SS allow what people are offering without a huge amount of enquiry

So many, this thread included, like bulls in china shop.

It's not an ideal safeguarding situation to be shelled to death though, either, is it?

You're right that people traffickers will be right on this opportunity, and kids will end up sexually exploited, and harmed in other ways. But, equally, a lot of children would die if we went through the normal assessment processes. There are no good choices in war.

FrecklesMalone · 11/03/2022 15:59

I would have also taken in an Afghani women and child. My friend has done it in Germany with a teenage boy from Somali (who had been street homeless since he was 4) and a Syrian girl. It has been very hard but worthwhile, like all fostering I imagine.

DrSbaitso · 11/03/2022 16:00

Presumably hosts will be DBS checked? Of course there's always a first time for everything but that's really the only system there is.

BeHappy91818 · 11/03/2022 16:01

No chance.

timestheyarechanging · 11/03/2022 16:01

Yes, I will. I try to put myself in their position and would hope that someone would do the same for me and my children

Rosehugger · 11/03/2022 16:03

@Pyewhacket

So, a cacophony of abuse thrown at the government for not instigating an open-door policy on refugees from Ukraine and yet when the opportunity for the same ppl to actually put their money where their months is it's, " Oh God NO, I couldn't possibly do that".

The stench of hypocrisy is over whelming.

And yes, I would offer to help. I have a property on the Dorset coast that I inherited from my grandparents which can accommodate at least one family. And not only will I be losing the income as a holiday destination but I will be footing all utility bill costs and providing food. I can also arrange employment too.

Sometimes you've got to stop shouting at everybody to do something and actually start doing it yourself. Otherwise, your just full of shit.

A good proportion of people on this thread who have said yes, and other people have said that honestly no they can't. Assuming we are not taking the entirely population of the Ukraine into the UK (unlikely given we've taken about 50 people so far) it sounds like there will enough places in people's homes or second homes.

We could probably accommodate everyone by just asking everyone who has more than one home. Not everyone has inherited property to offer - our one house has five adult-sized people, two cats and a dog and is certainly more occupied per square metre than a lot of other people's homes.

Tons of people have already given money, time, expertise and other things to help out. It's not hypocrisy just because you cannot offer a space to someone yourself. Stop shit stirring and do something useful.

me4real · 11/03/2022 16:06

Lol no

MrsSugar · 11/03/2022 16:06

As much as I would love to say yes… I don’t have the space and u can never be too careful with who has access to your children. I’m sure boris n co have plenty properties they could offer tho

Egghead68 · 11/03/2022 16:07

If Nightingale hospitals can be built in a matter of days, can’t temporary accommodation also be built quickly? Maybe reusing some of the Nightingale hospitals?

I don’t think taking strangers into your home/having to live in the home of a stranger sounds very safe from any one’s point of view.

Carbis · 11/03/2022 16:08

My granny used to talk about having people stay in her house after WWII. She said how lucky she was to be able to do it and how she wished she could have done more.

I know I ought to do it but I can’t quite get my head around it. I think we’ve regressed as a society because we can’t look out for one another on the way that should come naturally.

implantreplace · 11/03/2022 16:08

[quote Kendodd]**@implantreplace
I heard that and you've got the story completely wrong.
The child was with her grandmother, trying to get to the aunt in the UK. Grandmother had heart attack and is in hospital. Lorry driver was complaining that this child COULDN'T be immediately set to aunt in UK and instead has Visa hoops to jump though to prove she's not a security risk.[/quote]
Wrong
Listen back

implantreplace · 11/03/2022 16:09

The lorry driver has been contacted via Facebook by an aunt in Brighton who had heard he is going out there with supplies
To ask him to bring her back to the UK to her in Brighton

implantreplace · 11/03/2022 16:10

You can listen on catch up
Sheelagh F around 2pm

Fairyliz · 11/03/2022 16:10

Surely the obvious solution is to take all of the houses from the Russian oligarchs and use them for the refugees.
Apparently Roman Abramovich has 70 properties in London you could get a fair fee people in there.

stuckinagut · 11/03/2022 16:10

No, sorry, but no, given that you will be expected to commit for a minimum of 6 mnths, and help out with gp appointments, schools, care, and applying for benefits - we already struggle with accessing support for our own needs.

Just as an aside, I was looking up the relative sizes of each country's military earlier, Ukraine actually has a bigger standing army than the UK and a lot of other countries being dragged into this. I am not going to war with Russia for a country that has a bigger army than we do, for a smaller population... looking at you Sturgeon.

TimBoothseyes · 11/03/2022 16:10

No

VisaQuestions · 11/03/2022 16:11

Yes- if I can get them visas finally. But we are related…

implantreplace · 11/03/2022 16:12

@DrSbaitso

Presumably hosts will be DBS checked? Of course there's always a first time for everything but that's really the only system there is.
Dbs that don’t have a criminal record Fostering and adoption - so so much more involved
Ilovetheseventies · 11/03/2022 16:21

Sure there must be other ways of helping people besides having them staying with you ? Appreciate things cannot be set up overnight.

Gerbilteeth · 11/03/2022 16:21

What a stupid excuse. Buy them a jumper from a charity shop and help them find a job.

VisaQuestions · 11/03/2022 16:22

DH and I between us have 26 fairly close relatives in Ukraine. (Levels of aunts, parents nieces, cousins and children).
It’s horrible as we care, but it’s far beyond what we can house in a 3 bed house.

So far though most are actually swearing blind they will not leave for any reason. Some volunteering, some saying the west is safe enough in their villages, some looking at the condition of the border and the unknown and thinking it’s more risk than staying.

Friends we know have links in Europe, due to friends and family being able to travel and work there freely, to go to. We don’t, apart from 3 immediate family members, actually know anyone else who wants to reach the UK. It’s expensive to survive, hard to work, a big language barrier, different culture and has risks such as travel. Hopefully, only those with family here want to come, and most don’t get to worried about the barriers up.

oakleaffy · 11/03/2022 16:22

@Pyewhacket

You are slagging off people who are reluctant to share their home, while you basically have a free , empty inherited home😂
Jeez, if you can’t see the difference of a free house and not having to share living space , bathroom and kitchen with strangers, that’s just absurd.

The two are reams apart in terms of do ability.

Share your spare bedroom, then virtue signal.

motherofgodhaudyerwheesht · 11/03/2022 16:24

In my parallel universe we were on this from the get-go, coming up with realistic but positive ways to welcome the dispossessed into our communities and saying solidarity loud and clear.

You may be unable to help financially but you might have spare time.
You might be unable to sponsor but you might have the life experience to mentor and be a friend.
You might not have accommodation but you may have work.

Perhaps if our government spoke for the people rather than wrestling with their ideologies, lying and obfuscating, we would be seen differently in Ukraine and in Europe.

Instead the concessions are late, slow, conditional, and seem overwhelmingly begrudging.

Every person living in a democracy already owes a huge debt of gratitude to every Ukrainian. It is horrific that we cannot directly intervene, but hopefully nobody on here loses sight of the fact that this makes the moral imperative to help as much as possible in other ways even greater. What exactly is our legacy going to be here?

Also, having read this thread....Does it need to be said that Ukrainian immigrants are unique individuals from all walks of life? Not a homogenous mass of unknown quantities. People just like us.

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