‘We can help you’ – a message that gave such hope The Ukrainian family on their final leg to Macclesfield
LAST week we told the first part of the poignant story of the Vasylevskyi family.
They were among millions of Ukrainians forced to flee their homeland when Russia invaded earlier this year.
Mum Olesia, dad Maxim and their three children escaped from the capital Kyiv not knowing what the future held for them.
Olesia has told their story and in last week’s Express the we heard how the family – minus Maxim – made it to the safety of Poland.
This week we hear how the Vasylevskyi were reunited, made it to the UK and are trying to rebuild their lives in their new home of Macclesfield.
This is being done with help from Prestbury residents, including Margo Cornish, who raised the money and worked to assist the family.
Again thank you the Vasylevskyis for allowing us to share their journey and we wish them all the best as they get used to becoming Maxonians. made his way to the border. Thanks to all the Ukrainian military who co-ordinated the safest way.
The journey from home to us in Herford took nine days, checks at roadblocks, fuel problems, blocked roads, queues all this delayed.
But on March 9 we were reunited. What a joy it was to be together and alive.
During the first week of our stay in Germany, we could not make any important decisions.
We knew that it was not normal for three families to live in one apartment for a long time.
It was really difficult, even though we were friends, we have different lifestyles, views and different rhythms of life and we were temporarily allowed to live in this apartment.
What to do without knowing the language in a foreign country. How to look for a job, an apartment, or how to improve life?
To return to Ukraine you did not even consider, there is no safe corner.
In addition, you have lost the apartment that you rented in Ukraine. Our things were taken out by the owners of the apartment.
Programs for Ukrainians began to open in other countries and one of them was a sponsorship program in England.
For us, this was really a way out. After all, Maxim would be able to find a job in his speciality faster, thanks to the fact that he studied English, and would be able to provide for his family faster.
We found groups on Facebook where people posted their requests and desire to come to the UK.
We have a large family, and there was no certainty that there would be a sponsor ready to accept five people.
I remember how, without any hope of help, they wrote their appeal as a desperate step. On the very first day, we received a message from Margo.
She simply wrote: “We can help you.”
It was hard for us to believe that someone would respond, much less be able to help. I still don’t know what in our message touched Margo’s heart.
So our first communication took place, and she said that she was ready to become our sponsor.
It sounded so confident that we had hope that it could become a reality.
A few days and, visa applications were sent. A tedious waiting for an answer began, which lasted 40 days.
At this time, Margo supported us very much with messages, and photographs of the house that was being prepared for our arrival.
It gave us the strength to wait, instilled hope and made us believe that everything would work out.
On May 10, we received the last permission to travel to the UK.
We said goodbye to people who in this short time have become such relatives and hit the road again.
It was decided to drive to Calais and take a ferry across the English Channel to Dover and then to Macclesfield.
It was planned that in Calais we would stop for the night in one of the hotels, but something went wrong.
We couldn’t find a room and decided to take the ferry. No questions arose here and we crossed the English Channel very safely and affably.
In Dover, we were greeted by night, left-hand traffic, lack of communication and internet, and fatigue from the road.
But the world is full of kind people and at the border we were given an advertisement with a phone number, address and a mini-map about the location of the point of assistance to Ukrainians.
And within just 200m we found this place. It was a homeless shelter, but we were sheltered in a staff room, slept on folding beds and given hot tea to drink, it was insanely nice.
The next morning we got into the car, figured out how to go further and in the afternoon we were in Macclesfield.
Hello Great Britain! We could not even imagine that such events would lead us here.
Hello Margo! We finally met in person. I wanted to hug so tightly, but we are Ukrainians, we keep all the feelings inside.
Hello our new house! It is beautiful, but it is definitely for us!?
When we entered the idea of moving to England, we did not expect a separate house, we did not expect convenience and comfort, beds or bedding, etc.
All we wanted was the safety of working over time and slowly acquiring everything that is necessary for life.
Yes, we saw the photo before we arrived, but to be honest, we still didn’t count on anything.
And then going inside in front of us is a chic furnished house, with a garden, furniture, utensils, food, numerous gifts, games for children, lasagna and pie for lunch.
How much love and warmth people have invested in this house, how they tried to fill all our needs, took into account tastes, favourite colours, and interests.
They don’t know us at all, why they took care of every detail so much, I don’t know the answers to these questions, but we will be grateful to them for this until the end of our lives!
The first days we felt like visiting or in a hotel room, we were afraid to move something from its place.
Margo always reminded us that this is our house and everything that fills it, you can do whatever you want in it, move furniture, do as you like.
We are so comfortable! Everything here is thought out so much that there is no need to change anything, and thanks to this, very soon we began to get used to it and perceive it as if we had lived here for a long time.
A lot has been done to fit us into the life routine in the UK. I regularly take hormonal pills, which I was prescribed back in Ukraine.
Here we had no idea how everything works, where to start, where to go, and who to contact.
We were not left without help in this matter, and we were very quickly sent, prompted, and helped to fill in all the forms necessary for this.
School was also a complex issue, and we arrived without everything necessary for studying.
I read many forums where mothers shared stories about how schools accepted their children, fear came, whether they would get them or not, and how to prepare for this.
And then, some miracles, the private school agreed to accept our children and teach them until the end of their educational period.
The supporting team presented a beautiful new uniform, shoes and school supplies. In a matter of days, the children were ready to start learning.
The exciting first days of study came, and all the experiences were left behind.
Children are delighted with the attention and care at school as an individual approach is built for each child.
They received diplomas for their unique qualities, raising their spirits even more.
They go and return with a smile on their faces, which is so valuable for us parents. And as our daughter said: we could not have done it ourselves! And she’s right.
There were people behind it who arranged everything. Probably the most painful and central issue for us was job opportunities.
We are well aware that a lot depends on this. Maxim is a civil engineer by education.
We often scrolled in our thoughts about how to look for work in a foreign country without knowing anything about it.
We could not imagine that the team would help me find a job in my husband’s occupation so quickly, which is also a great joy.
We are amazed how this all happened, it was not we who worked, and the reward came.
It’s just people who opened their hearts to the needs of one family in trouble.
I want to hug everyone who participated in all this and wish that the day does not come into their lives when they need something.
After arrival, we desired to restore the old life. But we soon realized that life would not be the same; it would change.
We have a lawn and flowers next to the window that needs care. Lots of unknown products. The weather that changes every day and many times a day.
A language that we have yet to learn. In left-hand traffic, the steering wheel is now the passenger. Almost everything must be done online, and many accounts and cabinets exist.
Medicine and education are arranged differently. There are real football fans around us. We have a lot more to learn.
In this short period, we have already walked almost all the hiking trails around Macclesfield. The nature here is unique. We walked and enjoyed birds singing, beautiful views, and rich greenery.
We did not expect to be in such a wonderful, quiet, cosy city. It was another great gift for us.
This town is the best place where we will restore our lost strength. We ended up here thanks to people with good hearts.
It’s nice to realise that they live here, around us! Our children and we are happy. We like our new life.