People of Wales open up their hearts and homes to Ukrainian refugees — despite government’s failings
Thousands of people have signed up to the Homes for Ukrainians scheme – here are some of their stories, as EMILY WITHERS reports
WHEN Mykhailo and his family fled their home in Ukraine, little did they know that weeks later they would be living with a couple in a village in Wales.
After dealing with the enormous emotion of leaving behind everything they knew, they had to make a long and arduous journey to the UK, navigating confusing systems and bureaucracy along the way.
Mykhailo fled Kharkiv with his wife Yuliia and their two children in the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
They left behind many family and friends, and their pet dog and parrot.
A difficult and dangerous trip across the border to Moldova came next, before the long and arduous process of gaining a UK visa started.
Now, they are beginning to become settled into life in Gwynedd.
Mykhailo said: “We are a family from Kharkiv – my wife is Yuliia, my son Myroslav 15 years old, and my son Tymur three years old. An ordinary Ukrainian family – we worked, enjoyed life and loved to travel.
“On February 24 we were woken up by the sound of artillery shots. It was about five o’clock in the morning, we were very frightened.
“The children were still sleeping and we did not immediately wake them up but began to quickly collect things.
“We took three backpacks with us, a baby stroller, a dog, and hit the road. We had to leave the parrot at home, we gave him a lot of food, a plate of water – in the hope that we would return soon. But we didn’t return – we hope that he was able to fly out into the street, because part of the windows in the apartment were later destroyed by a shock wave from shells that exploded near the house – we were sent photos by neighbours who decided to stay in Kharkiv.
“First of all, we drove towards the railway station in the hope of boarding an evacuation train. But there was a huge crowd of people there, so we started looking for other solutions to get out of the city.
“At this time the shelling of the city continued, but far from us – Russian troops were advancing from Belgorod.
“Fortunately, we found a bus that was going to Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, and the driver agreed to take us.
“We stood in a traffic jam on the road for about four hours, but still escaped from the city. Then we drove to Pavlograd and then to the Dnypro, where we spent the night with relatives.
“In the morning we went to Kremenchuk, Poltava region, to visit my parents, where we stayed for a couple more days.
“The dog had to be left in Ukraine for the time being because it is quite large, and the road was difficult.
“Then we went to the border with Moldova, we drove for three days on the path that usually took one day. We crossed the border, and I returned to Kremenchuk and took three more families to Poland.
“Then I joined the family in Moldova and we began to decide where exactly to go. We placed ads in groups to help Ukrainians on Facebook and we were offered many options – mainly Spain, Sweden, France, Italy. At that moment, the
British government had not yet launched a programme to Ukrainians.
“We decided to go to Spain and had already booked tickets for an evacuation flight from Romania to Paris, so that we could then get to Seville on trains.”
It was then that Mykhailo saw a message from Sarah Green from Penygroes, near Caernarfon. She was inviting the family to stay with her and her husband Nick.
As Mykhailo speaks some English, he decided this was best for his family.
He said: “We really liked Sarah and Nick Green from Penygroes and it was also a big plus that we speak some English. In general, we decided to go to Wales.
“We agreed in advance with a wonderful Frenchman Yves who lives near Paris that we can stay with him before the documents for the UK are processed.
“We were sure that it would take a couple of days, a maximum of a week – we had biometric data, confirmation of our residence in Ukraine, and other documents.
“But this process dragged on for many days and weeks of waiting. After receiving visas on April 4, we arrived on free trains to London, and then to Bangor, where we were met by Sarah and Nick. In fact, we became one of the first Ukrainians in these parts, because many officials only just find out all the points regarding the correct execution of documents.”
Speaking about his new home in North Wales, Mykhailo added: “We really like North Wales – great nature, friendly people. In general, we feel welcome here and, most importantly, safe. Our sponsors – we don’t like this word, we like friends more – Sarah and Nick did everything possible to make our stay here as comfortable as possible.
“They showed us around, and helped with clothes and food, as well as paperwork. In general, we feel great support.”
Sarah and Nick lived alone in their house before welcoming Mykhailo and his family in April. Nick, 46, is self-employed and 51-year-old Sarah works in caravan sales. They chose to help after being horrified with what they saw on the news.
Sarah said: “The eye-opening moment for myself was watching the news before work to see what happened overnight.
“I saw an interviewer at a train station in Poland and they were chatting to a group of ladies my age who were returning to Ukraine from a girls’ weekend in Barcelona.
“I thought ‘this could have been me with my friends on a girls’ weekend’ and from then on I couldn’t sleep and I was constantly watching the news.
“We did the usual thing that everybody does. We sent money through the Red Cross.
“We were going to help a friend of mine load a van up to go to Poland but we knew we had to go further than this.
“Before anything came from the government I was trying to get in touch with people. I found a worldwide group offering homes to Ukrainian refugees and I saw this family.
“I messaged them privately telling him who we are and where we live. Within 15 minutes Michael had messaged me. And within a couple of hours we had all of their passport details and a brief history about the family.
“Then the UK Government announced the Homes for Ukrainians scheme and my husband took over, registering us and putting in all of our details. It was laborious and took over four hours – and my husband is an IT expert. It was hard work and not easy at all. And then the pain started.
“The UK Government were so slow and so unhelpful on getting information.
“Nick must have been making four or five calls a day to get in touch with someone.”
Nick said: “The system was not designed for a humanitarian crisis. I was constantly calling the Home Office, the local MP, and the UKVI. And it was still 15 days until travel documents got to Michael and Yuliia.
“And that’s not an isolated case. The problem is the same everywhere.
“The pain for us is one thing but these guys were starting to feel that the UK don’t want them. But we do want them here. The process is emotional for the families and emotional for the hosts.”
Sarah added: “They are leaving the country they love and leaving family members behind and the government just don’t seem to be taking any of that on board.”
Mykhailo and his family took the Eurostar to London, before continuing on to Bangor via train. Sarah recounts the moment she saw them for the first time: “The train pulled up and I saw this family. Mum, dad, teenager, and little kid in a pushchair, and they had three backpacks and a carrier bag for their belongings.
“And I thought ‘this could have been my son and daughter-in-law, and my grandchildren’. And that’s all they’d had from when they started making their way to the UK on 14th March – it was 4th April when they arrived.”
The couple say they feel a lot of responsibility and pressure to help the family rebuild their lives, navigating red tape and everyday activities.
They say they wish there was more help from officials – much support is from third-sector organisations and the local community, who have welcomed the family with open arms.
This sentiment was echoed by Tracie Shamby in Llanelli, who is hosting a Ukrainian mum and two children, aged 11 and 12.
Tracie has space to take in a family since two of her children are away at university. She lives with her 18-yearold daughter. Tracie, who is 49, works as a learning disability nurse manager.
She said: “I just think it’s all of our responsibility to support people in crisis. The process was absolutely disastrous. You initially sign up with the government, and you get an email to confirm this. And that’s where the support stops.
“It’s reliant on small local groups on Facebook to put you in touch with people. I joined a South Wales group and a lady in this group really helped me with the process. She matched me with the family then, and we haven’t stopped chatting every day since.
“It was a couple of weeks for the visas to come through – I got our MP to help move things along. And then of course you arrange transport – you have to reach out to people to find out how to get them over here.
“Tetiana and her children had gone from Ukraine to Poland to Bulgaria, to Germany, to the Netherlands. They were sick to the back teeth of train travel – but they had a whole day on the train then from the Netherlands to Swansea, where I collected them from the train station.”
The whole process took more than a month. Tracie was shocked to find that she had to seek out a family to sponsor herself, and that much of the process was left to her to work out, with no help from the government.
When Tetiana and her children arrived they were physically exhausted and unwell.
Tracie said: “I think it was sheer exhaustion and relief. And since then we haven’t really stopped.
“I think I have become a thorn in the side of the council team. We only got the emergency money two weeks after they arrived – and they arrived penniless.
“I have had massive support from the community – people want to help and we have been quite lucky. But the processes need to be in place.
“I’m a single parent who works full time and I’m having to work out buses and schools and free meals and universal credit, and it’s too much for a regular person to be doing.”
Tracie said Llanelli was opening up to Ukrainian refugees and creating a community there. She said that there were local informal support groups and meet-ups for Ukrainians in the area and that the whole community had been amazing.
The community spirit is something which has made it possible for Anna Merry, from Rogerstone, near Newport, to sponsor her Ukrainian guest.
Anna, 42, runs restaurants for a living. She signed up for the Homes for Ukrainians scheme after previously registering to welcome a refugee from Afghanistan.
She said: “I wanted to help and there was no reason for me not to. I have the space and the time, so why not? Registering for the scheme was fine but I don’t think anyone realises that you then have to find someone to sponsor. I was waiting for ages before I realised.
“One amazing Facebook group, called Sunflower Sisters, try and match people up from Ukraine and the UK. That’s how I met Yuliia.”
Yuliia, 22, from Odesa, Ukraine, had to leave her family behind in Ukraine.
Her mum works for the transport network and is not allowed to leave. Her father and brother have both been conscripted into the Ukrainian army. Initially, Yuliia thought she had found a sponsor, but this turned out to be a potentially dangerous situation.
She had agreed to move in with a man who told her he lived with his mother and his daughter, and even spoke to Yuliia on video chat to ‘prove’ this.
But Yuliia soon found out that this was a lie, and the 47-year-old man lived alone. He also began to send her messages that made her feel uncomfortable, so she reached out to Anna for help.
Anna said: “This is exactly what you don’t want to hear. Yuliia sent me some screenshots of their conversation and I contacted my MP for help.
“Within a couple of days, we had cancelled this sponsorship and made sure Yuliia could come to me. It was just days for the application to be approved.
“If anyone does have a feeling that something’s not right, you really should follow it up. I think some people feel really pressured to just accept anyone as a sponsor and it really throws up the safeguarding concern.”
Anna arranged flights to Heathrow, where Yuliia then caught a train to Newport, which is where Anna picked her up.
They have spent the last two weeks getting to know each other.
Anna said: “I was actually house sitting for a friend in Cornwall for a week, so she came with me.
“It was good because it gave us time to get to know each other. Everyone in the community has been really supportive.”
Not every pairing ends in a success story. Rosie Toll, 36, is a law lecturer from Gwynedd. She signed up for the Homes for Ukrainians scheme when it first opened, and paired with her family quickly.
But weeks later, the 62-year-old grandmother, 43-year-old mother, and two children, aged 16 and 10, are still stuck on the Continent. She says the whole process has been extremely stressful.
She said: “My main concern is them. I don’t regret trying to help this family at all but I wish I would have known how long the process would take.
“I feel like I’m promising a beautiful calm place, a job offer, and community, to these people.
“But who knows? I’m worried that if I don’t do anything then they will never come.”
After a long process of filling out paperwork and getting the family set up with biometric passport appointments, Rosie has been left out of the loop by the UK Government.
Despite chasing the application with her local MP and the Home Office, Rosie is no closer to getting the family across to Wales.
Now, Rosie crowdfunds their accommodation in Poland, but she says this can’t go on much longer.
She said: “I’m paying about £30 a day, which doesn’t sound like much but adds up. I’m considering helping them travel visa-free to Ireland instead.
“If you phone the helpline you aren’t going to get useful help. I don’t really know how it is possible to be this incompetent.
“It hurts me that they have to be put through this on top of all of the trauma they have already experienced.”