To ask if you'll sponsor a Ukrainian refugee?

[TheBeesKnee]

The humanitarian pathway means that charities, communities and individuals can sponsor refugees. I've felt very disturbed and useless this past week and want to do something, contribute somehow, make a difference to someone's life.

We have a spare room, so we could take someone in? Just need to talk to DP.

Would be interested to hear if anyone else plans to or experiences - either in this war or any previous if applicable.

I have signed up and offered to do an AMA.
Have limited info atm but have been asked to sign up for a minimum of 6 months but with no definitive end point. Can’t get paid for it. Cant charge rent. Can’t take unaccompanied children. (Rightly so).no requirement to provide food/therapy/guidance just a safe space. The rest will be provided by council depts/external agencies.

@Potsofpetals

No adults but I would happily adopt an orphaned child tomorrow.

Lots of children need adopting right now.

I dont have the space to be able to house a refugee, I wish I could donate anything to help, but realistically I am struggling to be able to feed my own DC at the moment and need every penny I have.

@Potsofpetals

No adults but I would happily adopt an orphaned child tomorrow.

I'm sure those on the adoptions board will point you in the right direction

Www.mumsnet.com/Talk/adoptions

It's generally reckoned to be best to adopt children to someone in their extended family and failing that a family that represents their own heritage best - so a Ukrainian orphan would hopefully go to a grandparent, aunt etc, and failing that would go to a family of Ukrainian origin, and failing that an Eastern European family with an understanding of all things Ukrainian.

There is, however, demand for people from all walks of life to foster unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and to adopt children from a broadly similar cultural background to their own (eg white British children tend to go to white British families)

'm thinking I'd offer for a women and 2 chiledrn so I presume she wouldn't be able to work. What financial support would they get?

They will be able to work and study. No details about subsistence yet. The info vibe is very much heating to self sufficiency

If it's requested locally I would seriously consider it for 6 to 12 months while a mother and child got back on their feet. I like to think someone would help me in a similar situation.

To be honest I won't seek it out, I'd rather not, but if there was a need or request locally I would consider it. Spoke to my DP about this and he's on the same page. A mother with one child max.

@Potsofpetals
Can I ask why you'd take a Ukrainian child before you'd consider a British child in care?
I doubt it would be easy to look after a traumatised child but the language barrier would make it doubly hard. Very few children are adopted in the UK beyond the age of 4.

I would be willing to help if a safe space was set up, e.g. in a community hall.

@Zillamop

I would be willing to help if a safe space was set up, e.g. in a community hall.

The they wouldn’t need help presumably.

@TheBeesKnee thank you for starting this thread. DH and I considering it but need to properly consider our offer. The thread allows for honest debate. I don't see it as virtue signalling because no one knows me!

The posts from @Strawberryjellyicecream are hidden but I can guess at them. People like me nervous of committing need open conversations to encourage and honestly explore the consequences rather than emotional blackmail.

I'm lucky...I have a spare room (although DD would not be able to come home so easily...she'd need to find friends to kip with) and I work part-time. I also currently work in the room that I'm offering so would need to consider how I'd manage around that.

I've not offered to Syrian or others because I've not been in the position to previously. The whataboutery other refugees is thought provoking but just a negative vibe which will discourage offers.

Why not? You don't think they'd want volunteers for cooking, signposting people to local services, admin, cleaning etc?

Breaking news!

[Link www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60685883?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6229d56e980bea49f4b7bde0%26UK%20home%20secretary%20confirms%20virtual%20visas%20plan%262022-03-10T10%3A42%3A44.341Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:74c035c9-95fc-4ba4-b718-1e22892745b6&pinned_post_asset_id=6229d56e980bea49f4b7bde0&pinned_post_type=share]

We are in the extremely fortunate position of having three spare rooms.
My husband and I have spoken about housing a family or group and if it becomes possible we will do it happily

[quote Dinoteeth]@Potsofpetals
Can I ask why you'd take a Ukrainian child before you'd consider a British child in care?
I doubt it would be easy to look after a traumatised child but the language barrier would make it doubly hard. Very few children are adopted in the UK beyond the age of 4.[/quote]
This made me think. Thank you.

@DonnyOpickme
Which agency have you signed up with please?

It’s not an agency, it’s direct with my LA after they put an appeal out. Looking at the info from agencies there are some key differences- no end point for one

CJat good point. I had my thread removed because it turned into a full on assault of accusations of racism for anyone who showed an interest in the current situation.

We don't have the space to take anyone in but I've helped with donations and I also speak the language of an ethnic minority in Ukraine (there are various ethnic groups)...but I'm not sure how many of them would be coming to the Uk. If they do come I would sign up to be a befriender/helper or something like that, so I'll be following this thread.

More info on the sponsorship scheme this morning. Full details to come on Sunday/Monday.
Key things to note:
-As part of the widening of the sponsorship scheme, individuals, charities, businesses and community groups will be able to register to offer accommodation and employment via a hotline and webpage.

• Those offering a place to stay will be vetted and have to agree to house a refugee for a minimum period.
• They will require visas in addition to biometric and security checks.
• The refugees are expected to be recruited by the Home Office

So do you think that last point means that if you want to sponsor a specific family, you can't?
And does the mention of 'accommodation and employment' mean you have to be able to offer both, or either/or?
Doesn't sound like a scheme that will be quick to get going, does it?

Our spare room is only big enough for a narrow ( 70 cm) single bed and currently doubles as DHs office and place to sleep when he has problems sleeping in our room so we just don't have room. We have some money though that I'd gladly send money to help with accommodation.

We did look into this previously for Afghan refugees, but the charity arranging hosts were only taking applicants who lived in cities. We're not rural but we are a small town and I can understand that it's easier for people to move to places where support services, govt offices etc will be within walking distance.
This time the difficulty would be WFH, as one us works in the living room and one in our only spare room. Depending on what time commitment was required it might still be something we could try.
I lived in houseshares for a long time before being able to buy a house so I don't see living with other people as unnerving as some do.

There's a comedian/campaingner, Deborah Frances-White who talks publicly about how her and her husband took in a refugee (single male)

The time commitment under the government scheme is six months.

@Woollystockings

The time commitment under the government scheme is six months.

Is it? Do you have a source for that, please?

@PakkaMakka Some people on the thread are talking about borrowing a friend's spare room for wfh to allow more space for refugee. Another was talking about the Canadian approach, which was that for every refugee family, there are five Canadian families offering support of various types, to help with admin, food, teaching English etc as well as accommodation, to share the load in terms of both time and cost. That seems a great idea in principle, and one type of support that your refugee bubble could offer, perhaps, is space for you to work.

@DoggerelBank
It’s on all the news channels and papers this morning: “expected to commit to a minimum of six months”:
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60701941.amp