Homes to help Ukrainians

It was great to see so much concern and activity around assisting Ukrainian nationals and, hopefully, actual refugees in Lochaber and the Highlands in general, find space to meet up (Lochaber Times, March 10).

A couple of thoughts crossed my mind while trying to navigate the mixed, and slow reaction from Westminster concerning Ukrainian refugees – how many? what criteria? IDs, etc – was where can the refugees stay?

As far as accommodation is concerned there will be many folk in Scotland willing and able to take a small family/or individuals into their homes. The Highlands and Islands are also on the verge of domination by second homes, not to mention chalets, holiday parks and cabins.

I would be interested to know if the £350 per month offered to UK families is for one individual refugee and will it also be £350 if someone hosts a family of three, four or five?

It seems the Westminster government will offer local authorities £10,500 per refugee who comes to live in their area, and more if a refugee child is of school age. So, there is some financial incentive to get things moving up here.

I pose the question because of the seriousness of the situation for the Ukrainians, and perhaps for us all, sooner rather than later.

Hopefully someone will pick up on how to help refugees coming to the Highlands and Islands.

Graham Noble, Kinlocheil.