 We're pleased to say that hosts of refugees under the Homes for Ukraine scheme will now be able to start applying for £350 monthly payments.
These payments are optional. If hosts do decide to apply for them, the payment will be backdated to the day their guests arrived. The payments will be made by their borough or district council for up to 12 months.
Borough and district councils will email those who've been hosting for a month or longer over the next few days with details of how to apply online.
Please bear with us
We'd ask for patience and understanding as payments begin.
We'll make a priority of those who have been hosting for a month or longer but no one should worry if they don't hear immediately from their borough or district council: they're working to contact all hosts as quickly as possible.
We're here for all urgent queries, but we'd ask people not to contact us to ask about payment dates. This will free us to get the work done as quickly as we can.
We thank everyone for their patience.
We're also launching a new way of getting the £200 welcome payment to guests arriving on the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
They'll be sent a voucher code to their mobile phones which they'll then be able to show at any post office branch to get the payment. One person will be able to obtain the one-off payment for everyone in their group.
Text messages from the post office will begin going out to recently-arrived guests from next week.
Some guests may first be contacted by one of the local councils to check the right number to use.
This payment system will replace the payments which our brilliant local voluntary action groups have been managing up to now. We hope new arrivals will find it an easy way to collect their welcome payment.
The latest figures show we can expect almost 1,400 refugees from Ukraine to come to East Sussex - with more than half already arrived. 330 hosts have already welcomed one or more guests.
| |
Guests expected |
Guest arrived |
Active hosts |
| Eastbourne |
167 |
85 |
38 |
| Hastings |
110 |
64 |
31 |
| Lewes |
260 |
158 |
70 |
| Rother |
250 |
149 |
59 |
| Wealden |
594 |
328 |
132 |
| Total |
1381 |
784 |
330 |
 There's full advice on how to claim benefits (including Universal Credit) in our 'Welcome to East Sussex' guide for guests.
They will need a face to face appointment to provide ID after making a claim. This will be at one of the five Jobcentres in East Sussex: in Hastings (two sites), Bexhill, Eastbourne (2 sites), Lewes and Newhaven.
Some Jobcentres open six days a week, Monday to Saturday, so in most weeks they might be asked to attend on any of those days. However all centres will be closed from next Thursday to Sunday (2-5 June) for the bank holiday weekend.
Claimants are paired with a Work Coach to help them into employment and all jobcentres offer translation services on site.
There's more in our online welcome guide, in Ukrainian, Russian and English.
With at least 780 Ukrainian refugees now being hosted in East Sussex, our sincere thanks for the welcome you and your communities are giving our guests.
We know there may be times when hosts or guests find it difficult to adjust to living with strangers from a different culture.
We'd ask everyone to try all routes to make their new life together work. We're very rarely able to simply move guests to a new property, and the outlook for guests having to live in temporary accommodation or becoming homeless is not a good one.
We'll offer support and services wherever we can. For severe difficulties, contact us at ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk
As one host wrote:
"Yes, it is initially a little ‘strange’ having people you don’t really know living in your house, but it very quickly becomes ‘normal’ and very soon after they become ‘family’ and you will quickly adapt to a new routine."
We hope the experience will be rewarding for everyone.
We use this newsletter to update you on Homes for Ukraine in East Sussex. If you'd rather not receive it, you can unsubscribe at any time. But we hope you'll find it a useful round-up of the wonderful community response being shown across our county.
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