thread for those interested in refugee hosting/sponsorship

[EezyOozy]

I thought I would start a new thread about this as I have just heard on BBC news that they are opening up a web form tomorrow to express interest. Apparently families/households can claim £350 a month (I assume for increased expenses) and refugees will be eligible to claim or benefits and work. We have large a spare room but live rurally so whilst I will express interest I'm not sure we will be taken up on it.

I thought I would start a new thread for those who are interested and to follow the progress of the registration procedure/how this pans out in practice.

Posted here because it's the only place I know gets plenty traffic, I will probably be asking for this to be moved but don't know where to.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel oh great, thanks! I wasn't sure as there was talk of Ukrainians already settled outside of Ukraine using it as an opportunity to work here, which I have no opposition to, as their homeland is at war, but obviously would rather help someone who is truly in need and homeless. So far, it seems quite hard to find a suitable match though through Facebook.

My sponsees have had confirmation that their application is being 'prepared for consideration' and the records confirm they have uploaded their valid passports, so looks like the other documents not an issue yet.

There seem to be some good local Facebook groups organising meet-ups for Ukrainians, even though w era win quite a rural area, so I hope that will help them with settling in when they arrive.

Countess, that is great news. When do they arrive? 100% understand that feeling of responsibility for them, once you've agreed to sponsor.

Congratulations Countess!

I’m feeling really despondent. I’m normally quite a positive and cheery soul (as long as my HRT isn’t malfunctioning) but this is really grinding me down now. I’m starting to wonder if I should just reapply.

Emailed useless MP again yesterday; no response. Tried a UKVI email address that someone in our village had some success with, and got an automated response saying no response would be forthcoming.

Feels like shouting into a void.

Wow, I hit Post on that just as an email came in - Permission to travel for one! Now I just need the second. Feels like progress. Finally. FINALLY.

And now I have the daughter’s! I feel so relieved that I can finally offer them refuge!

That's really great news @VenusClapTrap

I hope that getting them here goes much more easily than getting permission to try and get them here has gone!

Please can you remind me, when were your applications submitted? I'm trying to get a sense of how long it might be before I hear about mine (26 and 30 March submitted). Mum wants to give up and go back to Ukraine. She's running out of cash. MP seems pretty useless - think she's just emailing/calling the helpline once and parroting back their 'we can't help you response' which is frustrating when other MPs' case workers seem to be going the extra mile and getting meaningful updates for their constituents. I've sent loads of emails to various different addresses and got absolutely no response.

23rd March. My MP’s approach was very similar. It’s so disheartening.

I think all my MP did was send an email. Agree they need to be working harder if that really is the only route to getting them through. It shouldn't be the case, but if that's the way it works, then that's what they need to do.
Honestly, if they can't run a visa system properly, they shouldn't run a visa system. The latest data suggests 2000 processed a day - no sign of the promised 48 hour turnaround that Harrington committed to.

Thanks Venus.

My sponsee mum has today cancelled her application as it's taken too long and she's run out of money. She wouldn't accept my offers to contribute towards the apartment rental or help her financially in any other way. As soon as her passport is returned by the VAC - which itself could take weeks - she is going back to Ukraine and taking her chances there. She's also going to try and get a Ukrainian passport (she has permanent right to remain there already) so that if it gets dangerous and she has to go through this process again, she should hopefully be approved quickly with no VAC attendance needed. I feel like I've wasted her time. I know our government certainly has.

Try Sunflower Sisters on FB. They have area coordinators and help make matches

I think I've been matched but I'm cautious as to whether will be approved by the council. I really hope so. I was contacted by someone still in Eastern Ukraine with a five year old and a one year old. My spare bedroom is big enough for a double and a single bed and I'm sure it wouldn't be classed as overcrowding but I just hope the person approving it has compassion.

@Peppapigforlife The guidance for councils says that a parent and child can share a room so you should be ok. There was a poster on this thread a while back where the council were disputing whether the room was big enough for two (I think it was about 3x4m, so a medium sized room) but they eventually relented having looked up the rules on room sizes and statutory overcrowding and decided the child only counted as half a person so it was ok.

We have our council inspection tomorrow. Hoping they don't quibble over the gas fire service, or anything else I've overlooked. The Ukrainians coming to us now have their visas but are holding out for the visa for a young lad who's staying nearby as they want to travel with him. All applied on the 27th, but his visa is taking longer. So still not sure when they'll be arriving.

My guest got her visa amazingly quickly, in probably 10 days or so but she's a lone traveller without dependents so much less complicated. She's in Odessa so nowhere near the main fighting but near enough to have sirens going off and some damage to a local refinery. She wants to visit the dentist before she comes, probably a good idea knowing the provision over here. She's looking at flights in moldova to the UK which look quite reasonable.

@Fireyflies it's a mother, a child and a baby (age 1). In terms of space, it feels as though there is plenty but it is just dependent on the council. Although saying that I've had an email saying they can't do any inoecstion until I've signed up to the scheme on gov.uk and they've been told by the government. Which I have. So lord knows how long it will all take. But I guess getting them a visa is the most important thing, as they have a husband here on a work visa (I think on a farm), so they could always find somewhere to rent, if I was declined.

I meant to say Western Ukraine earlier.

How miserable for all of you , I am so sorry.
Are you going to find someone else? From what I can see for every Ukrainian dropping out there are also sponsors proving unreliable or unsuitable so you might even be able to take someone in without going through the whole visa thing again.

DH’s and my DBS checks have come through but not dd’s yet, though that was submitted a few days later.
Our guest is going to the VAC again today to pick up the remaining visas. Fingers crossed for no spelling mistakes etc.

(Anyone else finding this new Mumsnet interface horrible to use?)

I'm in Scotland and have received what I'm concerned may be a dodgy email, as it has a link to "survey" by QuestMonkey (who?) which may involve personal data.

Has anyone else in Scotland received an email today from

Sender: [email protected]
Subject: Scottish Homes for Ukraine

Dear [my name]
Thank you for registering your interest in Homes for Ukraine.
The level of support from the Scottish public has been amazing.
For this reason, we are currently not able to respond to all phone calls and emails.
However, we are working hard to match hosts to Ukrainian guests.
To do this, we need to gather some more information from you.
Follow the link in this email and complete a short survey.
Once you have completed the survey, someone from your local authority may be in touch to progress your application.

The sender's email address looks OK.

On the other hand, I'm not keen to click links to third parties in unexpected emails from strangers and hand over wodges of my personal data to said third party.

Also, the email ends: "You may have received another email today.
If you have already responded to it, you do not have to complete this survey again."

Yes, I have received another email today with a link to QuestMonkey survey. That first email had:

Sender: Ukraine Response Project [who they?]
Subject: Quest Invitation

And contains simply a big green link saying "Click here to participate". No further explanation.

When I test the Sender's email address by starting a reply, it comes up as [email protected]

It doesn’t sound particularly dodgy to me. Councils are very much making it up as they go along so I am not at all surprised if they are using a third party survey application.
However by the same token they might not have thought through the implications of collecting your data this way.
Maybe ring your council and see if they know anything that would set your mind at rest.

Survey monkey is a popular survey tool. Probably legit, though I wouldn't give them any financial details.

@Peppapigforlife - I'm not sure they'll let you put three people in one room. The guidance issued for councils suggests only two people per bedroom

It's not SurveyMonkey. Sorry, maybe I invented the "Monkey" bit.

It's a company called Questback, which I've never heard of. It uses the same corporate green as SurveyMonkey and similar font.

Think I'll try to find out more before telling it anything. There's so much data aggregation these days that even non-financial personal data is of value to the big data industry.

I've had a bit more look into it and apparently each child counts as half a person, but it depends which guidelines each council is using. One can only hope for their sakes.