Some information from a City of Sanctuary volunteer, experienced in supporting refugees. Hope it helps if you are considering this.
It’s fabulous that so many people here in Ripon and across Britain want to welcome Ukrainians into their homes or provide accommodation for them. This is a really significant moment in British history! If you’re interested in hosting then this could be the beginning of a fantastic lifelong friendship, but it's important to bear in mind that it could also be challenging. Here are 7 key things to consider - hope this helps!
The information we offer is based on lots of experience with refugees locally and internationally. I myself have hosted a Syrian refugee in my home in Ripon for 8 months, which was a genuinely brilliant experience.
FIRST, think about timescales. The scheme asks you to commit to 6 months, but longer if you can. What will you do when this time is up? It would be unfair to make them homeless, so some careful planning and fair warning will be needed. Of course, it might go so well that you want to keep extending it!
SECOND, think about what will happen if you don’t see eye to eye… Living with someone else can be challenging

They may raise their children in a way you wouldn’t, leave dirty pans in the sink, trek mud across the carpet, take all the hot water or play loud music. We’re all human!
THIRD, Ukrainians will be coming direct from a war zone and their journey here may also have been very stressful and dangerous. Could you cope with symptoms of trauma in your home at 3am (like night terrors, flashbacks, severe insomnia etc), and the effect on any young children in your home? Refugees from other countries, who come here on government programmes, have already spent several years in a safe host country and have had time to do some recovery before they get here.
FOURTH, refugees usually want, and are encouraged, to become as independent as possible. They may or may not want to live as part of your family. You might need to think about times when they can have exclusive access to your kitchen, and set a fixed time when they can have the bathroom. They might need a lot of space and privacy to work through what’s happened to them. Contact with other Ukrainians will really help them, and you could support them by facilitating this. Their desire to spend time with you may wax and wane from day to day, or week to week. One day they might really want your company, and the next day they might be in an awful mood and want to be left alone – just like any of us, really!
FIFTH, existing refugee hosting schemes often only accept applications from sponsors in cities, which does make sense because there will already be people from the same country as the refugee, along with cultural clubs and associations, interpreters, ethnic food shops, appropriate places of worship, etc. Where YOU live might be just the right place for a woman with small children to come to, but it might not – for example, they may be used to big-city life, or there may be very few other Ukrainians nearby; or they may have no English, or if you’re in a small village and they’re totally dependent on you to get anywhere.
SIXTH, can you afford it? The government will pay £350 per household, but if you take in a family of 4 then it's going to cost you more in heat, light and power than if you take a single person. The scheme doesn't allow you to charge them rent.
FINALLY, and most importantly, applying for the scheme has to be about the refugee/s’ needs, not the sponsor’s need to have this experience. For example, you’d need to be careful not to ask any probing questions about what’s happened to them, and accept that if they don’t volunteer the information, you may never find out.
So if you’re thinking about sponsoring, then good for you - but it’s best to think long and hard about all the pros and cons. A quick “I want to help” is lovely, but other people’s wellbeing is at stake – people who have already suffered massively.