Have you got someone from Ukraine staying with you.

[Yoohoo778611]

We are waiting for a mother, sister and a child each.
Hopefully it's not too long now, information we have been given it
should be Saturday or Monday.
We have had the council do a home visit and DBS check.
Can you please give me advice on how I can help them settle.
They have a bedroom for each mum with their child. Plus a bathroom between them.
I have stocked up on toiletries, toys, books and some clothes.

@WhoppingBigBackside

You can listen to the link in my pp. Woman's Hour, two days ago (Wesdnesday) on BBC Radio 4. 10 a.m. She said it about 10:17 hrs According to Wiki she is the leading DR expert and advises Cobra.

That was @PaperTyger

@WhoppingBigBackside I listened to that episode of woman's hour. All that the speaker said was "billeting refugees in spare rooms is harmful, huge temporary villages are much better". She did not elaborate or explain at all. I feel this quick sound byte is a massive generalisation. Also, at least in the UK, these huge temporary refugee villages don't exist!

We have filled out forms to sponsor a woman and child. The woman has links to this area and has a job lined up here, if she can get over with her daughter. She knows other Ukrainians working here. She specifically wanted to live in a family home in this area with children of a similar age. We were happy to welcome them into our home and provide a large and light double room with own bathroom. They won't be shoved in some grotty box room and isolated. She is desperate for the visas to come through so she can get here. I'm not sure how welcoming her into our home is harmful?

Granted, not all cases will be like ours, but simply sneering from the sidelines "billeting refugees in spare bedrooms in harmful" is a massive over generalisation! And frankly if we can offer what this woman wants and needs , and it gets her out of her shitty current situation, then I think this is preferable to some imaginary refugee village.

@WhoppingBigBackside I’ve just listened to that woman’s hour. What she was saying was at at disaster planning POLICY level it’s not the best plan to house people with families, but as they haven’t got massive temporary villages set up then what people are doing giving their spare rooms is absolutely essential and the right thing to do.

We are still trying to host someone. Spoken to a couple of ladies but all have changed their minds. We are absolutely fine with this but it's a bit like an emotional roller coaster. We can only accommodate a single person so not as many folk available.

Hi @Kreuzberg that's stressful for you. You will find someone that needs your help eventually. The requirement for UK visas put a lot of people off :-(

I'm not but a local woman is! She seems to be doing all the stuff as above but the lady she is hosting is also looking for work, so she has put a shout out and already has a cleaning job sorted for her!

Just heard that they are at the airport in Poland waiting to check in. They will let me know when they board the plane. Could be a couple of hours yet as I don't know how the airport's work in Poland.