CAPTION: Over 200 people in Devon have offered to host Ukrainian refugees through the Diocese of Exeter and Citizen's UK scheme
Meeting Ukrainians Hoping to Find a Safe Place to Call Home
The Diocese of Exeter is working with the charity Citizens UK to act as a key sponsor in Devon to co-ordinate providing homes for Ukrainian refugees and help ensure ongoing community support. The Archdeacon of Exeter, Andrew Beane, shares this update about the process so far:
“Each potential Ukrainian family or individual meets on Zoom with one of our team of volunteer translators and a volunteer from the Diocese to answer a few basic questions and ensure the matching process works safely and efficiently for everyone involved. We then look for matches based on the information supplied by our amazing generous host families. Over the last few days some of our hosts and Ukrainians who may come to live with them have been brought together online to meet each other with a translator and a member of the Diocesan team present. The first matches have now been made and their visa application process has begun. At one of the interviews, we spoke to Natalie, and while we were talking, we lost connection for a moment; Natalie, visibly shaken, said a missile had just hit the city where she lived!
Our system might be a bit slower than some others but having spoken to many Ukrainians who are looking to make the UK a home, it feels important the matching system is supportive, safe and efficient and feels more secure than just reaching out on social media. We are enormously grateful to the generous, open-hearted and wonderful people from across Devon who have offered their rooms, homes and holiday homes to our sisters and brothers in Ukraine. It’s been humbling to meet just a few of those looking for a safe place to call home and we hope that very soon our first families will arrive in the county.” You can find out more about the Diocese of Exeter Ukraine support here.