|
Welcome to your dedicated newsletter for Homes for Ukraine Hosts in East Sussex.
This month, our top story concerns changes to Ukrainian visa arrangements - find out what those changes mean for your guest. We've also information about events and opportunities to help your guest into work - an important step as they rebuild their lives in East Sussex.
The UK will celebrate Easter in March this year- but did you know that it falls earlier in the UK than it does in Ukraine? We’ve a guide to what our guests' traditions are during the festivities and how they differ from the UKs.
Easter is the year’s second-longest school holiday. We've a guide on how to keep you and the children busy and healthy as well as information on courses for improving English language skills.
We also have the privilege of sharing Svitlana Yali’s story. Her experiences are, of course, her own but they also have lots in common with other Ukrainian guests. Guests are helped by their hosts to work towards building a new and independent life in East Sussex. Svitlana also shares her story in a video filmed for our Homes for Ukraine hosting campaign. You can watch hers and others' stories on our YouTube channel.
We'd love to hear your story, so please email us if you would like to share your story.
Changes to the visa rules for Ukrainians staying in the UK have started with the closure of the Ukraine Family Scheme from 3pm on 19 February 2024. Applications can no longer be made under this scheme.
Applications can still be made for the Ukraine Extension Scheme until it closes on 16 May 2024.
There have been some amendments to the Homes for Ukraine scheme. From 3pm on 19 February, a new applicant’s initial permission to stay will now be 18 months, rather than applications made before 19 February where the applicant’s initial permission to stay was 3 years.
Guests who have already been given permission to be in the UK under one of the Ukraine schemes, may be able to apply for a further 18 months permission to stay in the UK under the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme. Applications can be made 3 months before your existing visa is due to expire.
|
Easter is a time of celebration in England, with people celebrating religious days and traditional festivities such as gifting chocolate eggs.
Easter falls on 29 March (Good Friday) and 31 March (Easter Sunday) this year. Ukrainians celebrate Easter Sunday on 5 May. The difference in dates is because the UK follows the Gregorian calendar and Ukraine uses the Julian calendar.
This is the last year Ukraine will have a different Easter date from the UK. From 2025 Ukraine will adopt the Gregorian calendar.
Celebrations
In Ukraine, followers of the Orthodox church celebrate Easter with the sharing of food after Lent. Ukrainians who aren’t Orthodox also see Easter as an important social occasion.
Special foods related to this time of year include Paska bread, which varies across different Ukrainian regions. Ukrainian Easter eggs are both decorative ornaments (elaborately coloured Pysanka) and something to eat (spiced and dyed hard-boiled eggs, known as Krashanky).
Ukraine also celebrates with chocolate eggs, although the Easter Bunny character is something that many Ukrainians aren’t familiar with.
Things to do the Easter
The Easter break is the second longest in the UK school year and offers both the challenge and the pleasure of finding things for your children to do.
The school holiday runs between the 5 and 21 April in most East Sussex local authority schools (although precise dates will vary from school to school, with differences in INSET days).
Luckily, there are a range of H.A.F (Holiday Activities and Food) events during the Easter break to help you plan some active family time.
Image courtesy of Pexals.
|
This month, Getting East Sussex Moving is encouraging people to take part in community-based activities such as dance, exercise classes, and playing sports like badminton or table tennis.
The campaign also focuses on community runs this month.
Parkruns
Parkrun is a free, weekly community 5-kilometer event that can be walked or run. You can also support Parkrun as a volunteer every Saturday. The events are held in five locations around East Sussex - find a Parkrun near you.
Although Rother district doesn’t have any Parkruns, it offers other options for support to get running, including the Walk2Run programme delivered by Running Space.
Being more physically active has many health and well-being benefits - no matter your age, state of health, or disability.
These include:
- helping to control weight
- reducing the risk of serious diseases like cardiac problems and diabetes
- and improving your mood and sleep.
Read more about the benefits of being more active and community-based activities at Getting East Sussex Moving.
|
Do you need help with English language skills? If you do, the Library and Information Service has two offers that can help you.
Step Into Reading
Free one-to-one support with a volunteer to help build your English reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
These sessions are held for adults at local libraries.
For more information speak to a member of staff at your local library, call 0345 60 80 196, or email library.enquiries@eastsussex.gov.uk
Conversation Groups
Free, relaxed drop-in sessions for people who have English as a second language. All languages and levels are welcome.
The weekly informal conversation groups are at:
- Eastbourne: Mondays 10.30-11.30am and Thursdays between 10-11am
- Bexhill: Mondays between 10.15- 11.15am
- Hailsham: Mondays between 12-1pm
- Hastings: Thursdays between 10-11am
- Seaford: Tuesdays between 10.30-11.30am.
|
Being a guest: my story so far...
The matching process can be daunting for hosts and guests. But Svitlana Yali (above left pictured with her hosts) believes that if you manage to build the right communication, the process will allow you to gain new friends and give hope and a future to one more family who has suffered from the effects of war.
When the full-scale invasion began, like many Ukrainians, the 44-year-old knew she and her daughter had to leave Ukraine. And like many Ukrainians, the process of looking for a safe place began online. She read lots of information in public forums, which is where she heard of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
With enough belief in her spoken English, she was confident she wanted to move to England. She began by posting information about herself on a Facebook group.
‘There were lots of offers, but following my gut, I chose a lady who was volunteering and had recruited several host families from Lewes and Brighton,’ says Svitlana. ‘This is how we met Jules and Matt. We started communicating and found many things in common. We made a video call three times a week and talked a lot.’
During those chats, Svitlana told her hosts all about herself such as her family habits and food preferences. Jules shared a video of her house, Svitlana’s future room, and the area she was moving to. Good communication with her hosts gave Svitlana the trust she needed to move to the UK. The chats also showed the importance of hosts being kind, supportive, and ready to answer any questions, as well as sharing information.
‘Personally, for me, it gave a sense of security and confidence,’ says Svitlana. ‘Our integration went very smoothly because of our host family. In the first two weeks, they showed us all the main spots: council, hospital, shops, playgrounds, school and nursery, bus stops, etc. We filled out all forms together, sent all necessary applications, and created a CV.’
Part of the family
When the initial 6-month-term came to an end, Matt and Jules reassured Svitlana she could stay as long as needed. The experience was very emotional, but brought them closer, ‘like real friends’ with Jules and Matt treating Svitlana and her daughter like part of their family.
Soon Svitlana became well-experienced in the Homes for Ukraine scheme and the
process and began to help other Ukrainians arriving to the county by sharing information they needed to begin their lives. This helped Svitlana find her first job as a Project Advisor for the Homes for Ukraine sustainment service.
‘Personally for me,’ says Svitlana, ‘I am so grateful for those families who opened their houses for actual strangers and trusted us; they believed us and it means a lot for us. So thank you, and I hope that more British families will help our people. It’s really important for Ukrainian families to feel this hope for a normal life.’
Hear Svitlana's story in her own words on our YouTube channel.
Jobs round-up
The latest jobs for guests interested in a new career?
Is your guest looking for a new job? We've the latest selection of roles and learning and training opportunities to help your guest get the job they want.
Find out more about the latest available roles in:
Useful contacts
Homes for Ukraine contact centre. If you need advice, call 01273 337010 (pick Option 1 to speak to someone in English, Option 2 to speak to someone in Ukrainian) or email ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk.
Welfare checks
It's really important to us that all Ukrainian guests are safe and well. As we continue to carry out welfare visits for all guests who have been living with their hosts for six months or more.
The purpose of the welfare visit is to check guests are safe and well, confirm your guests are still living at your property and to provide advice, guidance and information to you and your guest(s). It also provides you the opportunity to express any concerns or difficulties you might be having. We would appreciate the cooperation of guests and hosts when welfare visits are arranged with you.
If you found this a useful guide to hosting our Ukrainian guests, then why not share it with a friend so they can sign up to our monthly newsletter and stay informed of all the latest Homes for Ukraine news. You can read previous newsletters at our host newsletter archive.
|
