The Times - UK (2022-03-15)

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the times | Tuesday March 15 2022 11

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Some are offering bedrooms. Others
intend to rent entire houses.
As the government opened a formal
sponsorship scheme yesterday, Britons
found a variety of ways to offer safe
haven for Ukrainian refugees.
Groups have sprung up to help con-
nect would-be hosts with those in need
of accommodation and sponsors.
More than 35,000 people registered
for the government’s scheme on the
first evening it opened, while charities
have collected thousands of names
from individuals, churches, whole
neighbourhoods and businesses keen
to help.

Williams Jet Tenders
A company working on
luxury yachts is planning
to rent a home for
Ukrainian refugees and
offer people work, as
thousands of Britons
offer to host people in
their homes.
Mathew Hornby and
his brother, John, who run
Williams Jet Tenders
which supplies smaller jets
and ribs for yacht owners, said as
a business they want to help “in any way
possible”.
They signed up through the Sanctu-
ary Foundation, a project by the charity
leader Krish Kandiah, above, which has
collected more than 17,000 names for
potential visa sponsors, supporters and
hosts for refugees.
“We realised, like many people, when
we saw the distressing TV images of
what is happening on our doorstep, that
we had to do something,” Hornby said.
The firm and its owners hope to offer
both housing and work to Ukrainian
refugees, he said, adding they were pre-
pared to give “really anything” to help.
“We are preparing to rent a house as
a business, which can then be used for
refugees,” he said.
The Hornbys do not have any named
Ukrainian friends so are hoping to be
matched with people in need, either
privately or via government or charity
organisations. The Sanctuary Founda-
tion is seeking to set up a matching pro-
gramme working with charities across
Europe.
After the business made their offer
public, a local hospital got in touch and
said it had been contacted by medical
facilities in Poland which were taking in
refugees requiring dialysis and needing
help. They are now trying to find out
whether they can work with the hospi-
tals to support people in need.
He encouraged other people to sign
up as hosts or help in any way they were
able to. “I would just say, put yourself
and your family in the position of being
driven out of your community and your
home, and your lives and your country
being at direct risk,” he said.

Kerry Corley
Kerry Corley, 28, and her partner Do-
minic, 30, are offering their spare room
in a house they recently bought in St Al-

News


of Ukrainians housed in Britain


Open hearts and


doors for war


refugees in need


Emma Yeomans, Matt Dathan bans, Hertfordshire. Dominic currently
uses the room as a home office so will
move downstairs to free it up.
“We feel lucky that we have been able
to buy a house and at the moment we
have more space than we need so we’re
in a position to help,” Kerry said.
Dominic said: “We’ll find space
somewhere else in the house. I’ll work
in the shower if I have to.”
However, the couple do not know
any Ukrainians. The closest link is a
colleague of Kerry’s brother, who will
help try to find people who need a
home, but they hope the government,
local council or charity will help match
them with somebody.
They have offered to take in an adult
or a couple for between six to nine
months but are hoping for more
information on what hap-
pens after that period.
Dominic said: “It
might be an awkward
situation in six months
— we want to know
what the government
or local authority will
do after that to help
them move on.”

Dan Edwards
Dan Edwards, 35, knew from the
first day of the invasion of Ukraine that
he wanted to help, however he was able
to. Edwards, a warehouse worker from
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, decid-
ed to offer his spare bedroom, and
found a Facebook group where people
were posting offers of accommodation
for refugees.
“I posted that I had a spare room and
wanted to help out and then there have
been Ukrainian people posting today
asking for help,” he said.
Since he has only one room, he was
unable to offer it to a couple of families
who reached out to him. Instead, he
focused on finding either a single adult
or a mother and child.
“I connected with a lady called Daria
and said she could have the room,” he
said. “I told her about the new scheme
and we just needed to wait for more
details. I will stay in contact through the
week and then we will try to get the visa
sorted on Friday.”

Jacqui and Jimmy Gillies
Jacqui Gillies, 57, and her husband
Jimmy, 60, have a double bedroom in
their home in Washington, Tyne and
Wear. “My husband and I have been
discussing this since people started
leaving Ukraine”, she said. “We believe
that at any time this could be us or our
family and would hope that someone
would be there to help us. I never
thought I would be doing this in 2022.”
They are open to hosting anyone and
are considering how they can adapt the
house to make sleeping arrangements
work for different family sizes. “I think
they [the rooms] will be suitable for a
mother and children,” she said.
She encouraged other people to offer
up rooms if they are able to, adding:
“People must think about what this
actually entails. Be prepared. Be posi-
tive. Be kind as it could have been you.”

A little girl looks after her baby sibling at a refugee centre in
Poland. New homes could await in Britain where Kerry Corley
and her partner Dominic, above, have a spare room in their
home. They feel lucky to own a property and want to share it
with someone in need. Mathew Hornby, below right, and his
brother John, plan to offer a house and jobs to new arrivals.

LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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Julian’s breakfast-time small talk.
Sir John Redwood (C, Wokingham)
narrowed his eyes and wondered if
these Ukrainians would be given
tenant rights. A host to avoid,
perhaps. Kindly Rachel Hopkins
(Lab, Luton South) cried: “Luton
welcomes refugees!” But will
refugees welcome lovely Luton? Liz
Saville-Roberts (Plaid, Dwyfor
Meirionnydd) began by speaking
Welsh. I think. Unless she is already
practising her Ukrainski.
Tory and SNP members were
upbeat about Gove’s plan but Beth
Winter (Lab, Cynon Valley) called it
“shocking, really”. Winter is seldom
sunny. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
(Lab, Slough) ranted that the
government was “quite franklee
paffetic” and showing “callousness”.
Dhesi blurts out these formulaic
diatribes at such speed, whole
syllables are lost overboard.
“Shamefully” became “shamely”.
Gove had been forced to come
“kickin’ and streamin’” to the
Commons to unveil a “day-barkle”.
Gove had until this point treated
questioners with his usual treacly
courtesy but he seemed to spot that

Dhesi is one of those people even
Labour colleagues find tiresome.
“Can he just chuck it with the
partisan nonsense?” snapped Gove,
to wide satisfaction. Tim Loughton
(C, East Worthing) accused Labour
of being “on a scavenger hunt for
the negatives”.
Earlier, Crispin Blunt (C,
Reigate) created a frisson with an
urgent question about Saudi
Arabia’s execution of 81 prisoners.
Boris Johnson is expected to visit
the kingdom soon. The Foreign
Office showed how seriously it
viewed these executions by
choosing Amanda Milling as the
minister to answer MPs’ concerns.
Such was her expertise that she
was about to say “Riyadh” but
realised she had no idea how to
pronounce it so gave up. Her
performance, which lasted a
toe-curling half hour, consisted of
two or three prosaic non-answers,
repeated with much darting of
resentful eyes. The stonewalling
was quite dreadful. British-Saudi
relations must be in a much
bonnier state of repair than one
thought.

living-saint routine and scooted
round to her back benches to show
Mike Kane (Wythenshawe)
something on her mobile telephone.
The normally constructive Kane
accordingly stood and told the
House that an ITV journalist was
tweeting that Gove’s blessed website,
tsk, had already crashed. Gove was
momentarily stumped until there
came, from behind him, a baritone
roar worthy of Brian Blessed. “No it
hasn’t!” boomed Alicia Kearns (C,
Rutland & Melton), explaining that
she was on the website at that very
moment. Kane looked cheesed off
with Nandy for selling him a pup.
For any Ukrainian watching,
which MPs had the makings of
friendly hosts? Sir Roger Gale
(C, North Thanet) was, like Gove,
wearing a Ukrainian-themed tie.
However, lodging chez Gale might
not be entirely relaxing. Like Mount
Etna, the puce-faced old boy steams
constantly, forever on the brink of
furious eruption. Julian Lewis (C,
New Forest East) asked about taking
in academics. That made sense.
You’d need at least a master’s degree
in political science to keep up with
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