 Do you know hosts in the Homes for Ukraine scheme whose guests have already been with them for at least a month? If so, please reassure them that we'll contact them shortly with details of how they can request an optional £350 monthly thank-you payment.
While most hosts will not yet be in this group, we are developing a payment system for everyone and will update you soon.
Anyone who does claim the optional monthly payment when the system is in place, will have their payments backdated to the first day their guests arrived.
We'd like to thank everyone for their patience.
Our most recent figures show that of 1,236 Ukrainian refugees matched with hosts in East Sussex, about one in four (341) have arrived so far. This includes at least 130 children who have already been allocated places at schools in the county.
| |
Expected |
Arrived |
Hosts (total) |
| Eastbourne |
131 |
35 |
61 |
| Hastings |
101 |
31 |
51 |
| Lewes |
224 |
71 |
104 |
| Rother |
231 |
67 |
86 |
| Wealden |
546 |
137 |
215 |
| Total |
1236 |
341 |
517 |
 We have now published our welcome guide for refugees in Russian as well as Ukrainian and English. We know that Russian is the first language of some people who have fled Ukraine.
You can easily switch between all three language versions of the guide on our page. It offers advice on health, benefits and employment, banking, education and more, as well as a welcome to East Sussex. We will keep it updated.
Most of our guests already in East Sussex have now received the £200 welcome payment for each person arriving on the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
If not, they can request the cash payment by contacting their local voluntary association:
-
In Eastbourne, Lewes or Wealden - contact 01323 639373
-
In Hastings - contact 01424 444010
-
In Rother - contact 01424 217259 or 07871 603235
Or, they can request the payment by cheque which will be sent by post and can be cashed at any branch of NatWest bank. Email ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk to request this.
Free four-week bus passes for Stagecoach services for Ukrainian arrivals can also be collected from the voluntary associations. Passes for Brighton and Hove buses can be collected from the company's offices in Brighton and Hove.
We know many of you might still have questions. Please contact us if you do:
Telephone - 01323 724748 (10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday).
Email - ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk
We're organising and processing home visits and DBS checks as fast as we can and working with all our partners to get these done.
We'd remind everyone that questions about visas can only be answered by the Home Office.
We hope you find these regular updates helpful. If not, you can unsubscribe at any time using the link below.
The people of East Sussex are continuing to make a great effort to welcome Ukrainian refugees and we'd like to thank everyone involved.
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