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Welcome to your dedicated newsletter for Homes for Ukraine Hosts in East Sussex.
We hope that all our host and guest community are having a great summer.
This month we begin by sharing our usual ‘What’s On In East Sussex’ round-up which includes events for August as well and the early part of next month.
The Library is a great place to visit if you're looking for something to do. There's the Summer Reading Challenge and there's now a host of popular Ukrainian titles to choose from.
We have our regular listing of job opportunities, this month focusing on the Hastings and Bexhill areas.
Following on from the warnings about scam messages regarding E-visas, unfortunately we now have advice for guests on avoiding, or addressing, incorrect water bills. Please be careful.
This month we bring news of a new website for Ukrainians. The platform includes links to important information for all Ukrainians displaced by the conflict.
Finally, we end this month’s newsletter a slightly longer piece than usual from Antoinette Reynolds. She has hosted several groups of guests. She tells the amazing story of her current guests’ journey from Ukraine and how they eventually came to her home (via a different set of equally supportive hosts).
Her story really shows the resilience and bravery that all of our guests embody.
We’d like to finish by saying a huge thank you to all our hosting community for showing their continued generosity and empathy toward our guests.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched the Ukraine is Home digital information platform.
The platform has information specific for those living in the UK and for those people thinking of returning to Ukraine.
The platform aims to provide timely and impartial information to people displaced by the full-scale war in Ukraine. It's designed to help Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people make informed decisions about returning home — or continued stays in host countries or host communities.
Users can find guidance on:
- accessing the Ukraine government’s compensation mechanisms for destroyed or damaged homes
- eligibility requirements when applying from abroad
- personal documents you need to get when returning to Ukraine
- access to free legal aid and cash assistance provided by UNHCR and its local partners, among others.
It also contains information about how a return to Ukraine can impact the situation of those with status in the UK.
We want to once again repeat our monthly reminder that all guests’ Biometric Residents’ Permit (B.R.P) card will be replaced by an e-visa by a 31 December 2024 deadline.
Please recall our previous warning that United Kingdom Visa and Immigration (UKVI) will never contact a guest over any social media channels asking for money or information and if a guest receives such communication, they should delete it.
The physical B.R.P will still be needed for travel until the December deadline.
To apply for the e-visa guests will need a UKVI account. There's an instruction video on how to create this here www.gov.uk/evisa
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We're urging guests to check their water bills after some former guests were incorrectly billed for water when they moved into independent accommodation.
Incorrect bills can be challenged and corrected but it can be a difficult. It will involve having to send emails and make calls.
We therefore suggest Ukrainian families take a time stamped photo of their water meter (and other utility meters) as soon as they move into their new home. They should do this if they are taking up temporary residence in a flat or house, or on renting privately. They also need to take photos again on the day they leave their premises.
Most people in East Sussex are customers of either South East Water or Southern Water’
Fortunately, both companies now use real time translation software to help customers whose first language isn’t English.
Click on the link below for details of your water provider
The school summer holidays bring with them a number of challenges as well as pleasures.
Ukrainian children in our schools should be particularly encouraged to keep practising their English skills during the school summer break.
East Sussex Libraries run a Summer Reading Challenge for all children during the school summer holidays.
Taking part can help children enjoy the pleasure of reading (as well, of course, as feeling the educational benefit). Further information can be found on our website.
And don't forget the county's libraries’ now stock popular Ukrainian fiction.
As the summer holidays continue it can be hard to think of new activities to keep yourself, guests and the kids busy.
We've a few suggestions and ideas that will hopefully inspire you to get out and about this month. Click here to find an event near you.
Easier way to get about
If you find it hard to get around East Sussex because you live in areas with limited or no public transport then why not try Flexibus.
The on-demand ride share service can help connect you with your local area and the wider public transport network so you can visit more of our wonderful county.
Flexibus operates Monday to Saturday 7am-7pm, excluding Bank Holidays.
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:
Being a host: my story so far...
Although I had little previous knowledge of Ukraine, I was so shocked by the February 2022 invasion that I wanted to find a way to help, writes host Antoinette Reynolds (centre).
I had just completed some building work on my house, giving me an annex for family and friends to stay in. With my family’s support I asked a Ukrainian friend whether she knew of anyone needing shelter in the UK. Within days, she came back to me. She had heard about a young family who had gone on a half-term break to Stockholm, had been unable to make their way home and were now travelling through Europe, looking for a country that would take them in. We got in touch via WhatsApp, liked the look of one another and as soon as their visas came through, in late April, they made their way to England.
This family was lucky to have been out of the country during the invasion, enabling their children to escape immediate trauma. They were determined to be as upbeat as possible, despite obvious worries. We quickly became firm friends. They stayed for fifteen months and, being extremely resourceful, were then able to find independent accommodation nearby. We still see one another regularly.
My annex was very small, but they had their own kitchen area and bathroom, which gave them complete privacy; an important factor in being able to host a family successfully. I also have a large garden, which was a godsend during the summer months, especially for the children.
Hosting my second family
Because my experience had been so happy, I thought, after a break, I might help another family if a need arose. Within seven months I received a phone call with an urgent request. Would I consider taking in another family, this time a grandmother and her granddaughter? And a cat...
Svitlana (in her early sixties), a fifteen-year-old Yasmina and their cat Belka arrived in the UK in June 2022. They'd had a harrowing journey across Europe. Within days of the war’s start their home city Mykolaiv was bombed. Before the Russians took the city on 1 March, they packed their bags to leave, went to the train station where a train was waiting, ready to depart.
While Svitlana got off the train to buy some water for the journey, the bomb alarm went off and the train left carrying Yasmina, Belka and all of their luggage and papers off. Svitlana was able to contact a friend who picked Yasmina up from the platform at the next station - 60km away. Yasmina stayed there for the next month. Meanwhile, Svitlana was stuck in occupied Mykolaiv until it was finally freed and she could pick her granddaughter up and bring her back to the city. The three of them (still with Belka of course) waited in a bomb shelter for three days until a bus took them to Moldova.
In Moldova, they took another bus to Istanbul, where they had been promised shelter. Unfortunately, this promise was not upheld and a cash machine also swallowed their card. Thankfully, the Ukrainian consulate came to their aid and put them on a bus to Bulgaria; including, of course, their (by now) extremely distressed cat. They arrived in Burgas before dawn and eventually found a hotel, which was willing to let the cat stay, for two nights. After much searching, they found shelter at an out of season hotel, where they were able to stay (for free) until the tourist season began.
Through Facebook, Svitlana and Yasmina eventually found a sponsor in East Sussex, who, once their visas had come through, drove them across Europe (the cat wasn’t allowed on the plane) and welcomed them into their home in the UK. Owing to a change in circumstances, they moved to another family after a year but are now with me in Upper Hartfield. These brave people truly enrich our lives.
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.
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