Andy McDonald
Andy McDonald, the Labour MP for Middlesbrough, faced practical impediments to opening his doors to a Ukrainian refugee family. “Signing up to the scheme was really straightforward,” he says of Homes for Ukraine. “The portal works well, so you can be registered and accepted as a potential host. But then it comes to a shuddering halt. Because there’s nothing after that, which makes it all a bit meaningless.”
After registering his interest, a chance conversation with a friend led McDonald to connect with Maria Tribe, a management consultant from Cambridge. This “incredible” woman, as he describes her, plays no official role in the process but has taken it upon herself to become a matchmaker for United Kingdom and Ukrainian families. That is how McDonald found Tatiana, her husband Alexey and their two-year-old son Vladislav, known as Vladik.
“Their home in Luhansk was destroyed by Russian bombs,” McDonald begins their story. The family fled and took refuge in Cherkasy, a city south of Kyiv on the bank of the river Dnipro, which flows through the centre of Ukraine. There, they were given a flat to stay in for a month. Alexey is an award-winning physicist and professional photographer, but they had no money or income.
McDonald submitted the visa application to be Tatiana’s host in April. “Oh, what a stressful, anxious process that is,” he says. “I made a couple of errors. I missed a letter out of her email address, which
“My wife’s trying to learn Ukrainian off the internet”
gave me a sleepless night because she pointed it out to me. I thought, ‘Oh, no, what have I done?’. And then you need to upload a great deal of evidence… It really was stretching my IT skills.”
Once young Vladik gained a passport, McDonald made another application and linked the two. On 27 April, permission to travel for the boy came through. “Not really much good to a two-year-old who, dare I suggest, might need a parent,” the MP remarks.
He established through a visit to the Ukraine casework hub on the parliamentary estate – where dozens of staffers queue daily in search of updates – that Tatiana’s application had been approved but further checks were needed. Finally, after raising their case in the Chamber, all permissions were granted.
In the days before their arrival, McDonald sent Tatiana his family tree and a photo of Middlesbrough centre square illuminated in the Ukrainian colours, and took practical steps such as asking Alexey for their food preferences.
His wife Sally began learning Ukrainian and the whole family tried to pick up at least a “smattering of words,” enough to say hello and welcome.
McDonald has a grand piano at home, which he plays – and it just so happens that Tatiana is a concert pianist. The MP says he is excited about the prospect of building a “little Ukrainian community of musicians,” as friends of his are hosting a Ukrainian music teacher. Meanwhile little Vladik is getting on well with McDonald’s granddaughter. “The international language of children’s toys disputes,” the MP says.
McDonald is full of praise for how Doncaster airport is welcoming Ukrainian refugees to the UK, with a dedicated reception area set up. “All of the hosts were there, so we’re all exchanging our stories,” he recalls. “It tended to be people of a certain vintage who were receiving people.”
“Some of the scenes of family reunification were really touching,” McDonald says. “One little girl came up to – I think he was her father. The squeal of delight and the drop of her little case and running to him was just gorgeous. The remarkable thing was to see the police officers and Border Force helping the passengers with their luggage… Perhaps not the image people have of Border Force staff, but they were absolutely wonderful.”
As with Baker, the heartache of their Ukrainian mother and child is never far from their thoughts. Alexey is “not yet taking up arms” but “will fully expect” to do so. While Tatiana and Vladik are now safe, “it leaves husband and dad in mortal danger – and that’s just terrifying”.
McDonald is pleased to be helping, yet does have one regret. “I just think, why can’t we extend this generosity of spirit to others? If you’ve lost your home, you’ve lost your home. It doesn’t matter whether that’s in Ukraine or Syria, Palestine or Yemen. It doesn’t sit well with me that we’re not being as generous with people fleeing all sorts of atrocities. But there we are.
“You can only deal with what’s in front of you and do what you can.”