EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE
More than 60,000 people fleeing Ukraine have arrived in the UK and are being supported by families. Wayne Carlisle, from Leicester, an IT director at a printing firm, tells how he has opened his home to a vulnerable family in their darkest hour…
When the Government announced that anyone in the UK with a spare room can become a ‘sponsor’ as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, I knew that I had to help.
Watching the news and knowing more than four million people have been forced to flee their homes since Russia launched its invasion on Ukraine is terrifying.
I applied to be considered for the scheme on March 18, but ended up having to look for someone to sponsor myself. Within minutes of posting an advert on a Ukrainian charity site I had three families wanting to escape Ukraine!
The Romanov family that I am sponsoring are mum Olena, son Alexander, daughter-in-law Olena and two children, 13-year-old Igor and Anastacia, aged three.
All five were staying in a hospital room on the outskirts of Warsaw. Thankfully Alexander can speak excellent English and between us we managed to complete their visa applications.
The two women and children fled from Odessa to Warsaw by train with just the bags they could carry and met up with Alexander. He works on a ship and could not fly back to Ukraine due to the war – his brother Misha (who is father to the children) also works on a ship and will be back in a month’s time.
They eventually got an invitation for a visa interview at the British embassy in Warsaw and were told it would be around seven days before they would hear back about whether they could travel to the UK.
Once they received the signed documentation, it took nearly two days for them to travel to Leicester.
We collected the family of five from Rugby railway station where all of their possessions (including a wheelchair and pushchair that they’d been gifted in Poland) managed to fit in two cars.
They were all warmly welcomed by my friends and family and have gratefully received donations of clothes and toys for the children.
The whole family have begun English lessons and are keen to find work while they are in the UK. We are educating each other about our cultures – they’re introducing me to Ukrainian national dishes in exchange for some darts techniques! I hope to make them feel as safe and welcome as I can while they’re staying here.
■ If you would like to help a family fleeing from war, please record your interest at the Government website gov.uk/registerinterest-homes-ukraine