So far around 100 Derbyshire households have been accepted to open up their home to host Ukrainian refugees under the government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, with many more expected to follow.
As the first families begin to arrive in the county, efforts to support them to settle with their host families are being led by a partnership including Derbyshire County Council, local district and borough councils, health colleagues, police, voluntary and community groups and other agencies.
The partnership, which previously coordinated the response to calls from the government to house Afghan refugees, will take on tasks such as carrying out safeguarding checks to make sure refugees are settled into safe and supportive homes, administering emergency payments of £200 to refugees and national £350 a month ‘thank you’ payments to host families, helping to secure school places for arriving children and young people and giving advice on how to access other services, like healthcare or welfare benefits.
The partnership is not responsible for matching host households with people travelling from Ukraine but is working to support both the hosts and guests once they have been matched and their visa application has been confirmed.
Hosts, or sponsors as they are also known, can be private residents, charities, or other organisations, but must be able to provide accommodation for at least six months.
Anyone wishing to register to host a Ukrainian refugee or a family in their home must register on the Government’s website. Find out more about the Government scheme.
Offers of support have been received from people across the county who are unable to provide accommodation but would like to help in other ways and anyone who wishes to offer their support in this way can email ukrainesupport@derbyshire.gov.uk. Please do not email this address to register to become a host. Host registrations can only be made through the Government’s website.
Council Leader Councillor Barry Lewis said: “Derbyshire has always been a welcoming and compassionate place and we’re pleased to be able to help the people of Ukraine arriving in our county.
“It’s vital that these people are settled into safe and supportive environments having suffered such a terrible ordeal and I have no doubt that our residents will welcome them into their communities wholeheartedly.
“This is the largest resettlement programme we have helped to co-ordinate and we’ll do all we can to make the process to ensure the safety of individuals runs as quickly and smoothly as possible.
“Thank you to everyone in Derbyshire who has made offers of help, from providing accommodation to showing people around the area and offers of friendship. Anyone who would like to offer support other than accommodation should email ukrainesupport@derbyshire.gov.uk”
Find our more about the partnership’s support for Ukrainian refugees
