 Over the Christmas and New Year period most services will take a break. There are national bank holidays on the 26th & 27th December and the 2nd January 2023.
However, many services will close for the whole period from the end of the day on Friday 23rd December until Tuesday the 3rd January. This includes our Homes for Ukraine email and phone number, and there will be no newsletters during this time.
Local voluntary sector services will also have limited or no availability. If you have any concerns about accessing services for hosts or guests, please let us know before the 23rd December so we can ensure they have the information they need. Specifically, if they are expecting to arrive during the Christmas or New Year period, please let us know in advance so we can help you make sure they have what they need.
A list of public service availability for the coming weeks is in the below link. It also contains contact details for emergency services, and out of hours services for adult social care, children’s services and housing services.
Christmas and New Year opening times | East Sussex County Council
Some of our partner services will have limited availability and may be available on the days that are not bank holidays – if you think support will be needed from particular services, please check with those services in advance.
If you have any questions about service availability or other concerns about the holiday period, please contact us on ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk or 01273 337010.
It is really important to us that all Ukrainian guests are safe and well. From this week onwards, we will be carrying out welfare visits for all guests who have been living with their hosts for 6 months or more.
The purpose of the welfare visit is to check guests are safe and well, confirm they are still living at their hosts’ property and to provide advice, guidance and information to guests and their hosts.
We expect these checks will start from this week, so hosts can expect to be contacted in the coming weeks.
An email with further details about these welfare checks has already been sent to both hosts and guests. If they haven't received it, please check spam folders, or contact 📩 ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk for more information.
 As part of a campaign through the national data bank, O2 are offering access to free data over the Xmas period, which is available to everyone.
Between 7 November and 31 December 2022, O2 will be providing 1 million GB of free O2 data to people in need via their O2 Christmas Sim Cards, which allow people who need a hand staying connected to redeem 7GB of Pay As You Go data for free.
To benefit from the offer, you need an O2 Pay As You Go £10 Big Bundle sim, available separately for free here. Once you have an O2 Pay As You Go sim card, follow the steps outlined in the link below.
 Christmas is a time when many families and friends come together to celebrate, and in Ukraine the many old traditions connected with this feast day, such as carolling, sitting together on Christmas Eve for a meal of Lenten dishes and performing the nativity play from house to house, are still very much alive.
This year will be the first time that displaced Ukrainians are experiencing Christmas in the UK and many will take comfort from staying connected to the old Ukrainian Christmas traditions.
The Association of Ukrainians in Britain has put together a fantastic guide for hosts to help them learn more about Ukrainian Christmas traditions and celebrations.
We hope this will enrich the festive experience for hosts and their guests.
We use this newsletter to bring you updates about how East Sussex and its communities are working with our Ukraine guest. You can unsubscribe at any time.
If you have further questions, you can contact us at ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk
We wish everyone a great weekend.
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