Woman approached by 80 Ukrainian families in need
Maidenhead: Linda D’Arcy is seeking support and putting in a plea for sponsors
A Maidenhead woman is putting in a plea for sponsors by offering her services to help match Ukrainian families and hosts coming in via the
Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Linda D’Arcy has already been approached by 80 families – around 280 people – in Ukraine who are looking for places to stay.
Family sizes are from one person to in excess of five. Linda said that UK house sizes and layout, i.e. number of bedrooms, is frequently in conflict with Ukrainian family sizes and their needs.
The situation is complicated by Government guidelines which say people should not be in one room unless they are partners; a parent and child; two siblings of the same gender aged over 10; or two siblings of any gender aged under 10.
“The main problem is a lot of families have five people in them – two adults and three children. You’re looking at potentially three bedrooms,” Linda said.
The Government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said there is ‘some flexibility’ in its guidance but these are based on overcrowding laws.
Thus, councils ‘will want to consider how space is being occupied’ as part of their assessment of the suitability of the accommodation.
Minister for Refugees, Lord Harrington, said: “We have been working hard to streamline the process, including simplifying the forms and boosting staff numbers, and we are rapidly moving towards reaching my aim of processing visas within 48 hours.”
Matching services such as Linda’s and the one provided by Safeplaces RBWM help make sure Ukrainians are headed to homes that are better suited to their individual needs.
She has enough information the families she is in contact with to have created an initial vetting process and is happy to discuss various options if anyone can help by offering accommodation.
Linda hopes to be able to encourage larger Ukrainian families of eight or nine people to split into two households, by trying to find both sets accommodation in the same town.
She suggests that perhaps two neighbours could house a family between them.
Those interested can contact Linda by email at lindadarcy@btinternet.com