Find below the latest update of Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Arrivals: As of 11th May, a total of 937 Ukrainian guests are due to arrive In Warwickshire, split across 607 groups/family units. Of those 937, 317 have a visa status of ‘arrived in UK’ and a further 396 have had their visas issued.
Sponsors: There are 360 sponsors (hosts) in Warwickshire.
Data flows: The county council has access to the DLUHC Foundry case management system. This is where we get access to the current lists of guests, sponsors and properties. This information is extracted each day and shared with the necessary county council services and partner organisations such as the District/Borough Council, so that the necessary checks can be completed. Once completed, these checks are then recorded on the Foundry system. Appropriate data is also being shared with other partners to help provide the necessary support for sponsors and guests. This includes health colleagues and voluntary and community organisations.
Accommodation checks: As of 11th May, a total of 252 accommodation checks have been completed by the District/Borough Council housing teams. A total of 361 properties have been made available to the scheme so around 70% of the checks have been completed. All but two properties have passed the checks; where the checks have failed, this has been because the bedrooms have not been large enough to accommodate the number of guests due to arrive.
Homes for Ukraine community support project: Our Communities and Partnerships team have successfully delivered three webinars around Ukrainian culture, customs and diversity. The team were supported by two community volunteers Maria Zhukova and Maria Tarnavska, as well as Roman Leszczyszyn from Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (Coventry branch). The webinars were attended by almost a hundred sponsors and colleagues and were very well received.
Some of the feedback included: “We have just watched the excellent webinar arranged and presented by Warwickshire County Council to help us with some background information about Ukraine, the people and their culture. It was very well done, informative and useful. Thank you to the contributors. I would recommend joining for the next one.”,
“Accurate information delivered by people who clearly had a depth of knowledge and experience and had answers at the ready for questions. “,
“Many thanks Mike, Roman, Mariya and WCC colleagues for organising and hosting this very useful session.”
“Many thanks indeed for all your efforts - and indeed a thank you to your colleagues on the helpline who have been very helpful and encouraging”.
The team are planning two events on the 23rd of May in Leamington Spa library and on the 26th of May in Rugby library. These welcome events will be supported by library staff and aim to extend a Warm Welcome to anyone arriving in Warwickshire. The events will introduce the guests to library services and provide an opportunity to socialise.
Homes For Ukraine Scheme - Support Project: The team is currently working in collaboration with Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (CAVA) to establish a directory of new offers of help and support from local organisations. The directory will then enable signposting of individuals to the appropriate groups and organisations who are actively involved in supporting Ukrainian guests and host families.
View the new offers of support
For more information, visit: https://www.wcava.org.uk/news/2022/04/22/homes-ukraine-scheme-support-project
Family Information Service support: The number of guest arrivals has increased significantly in the last week.
- Phone and email support – There has been an Increase in volume on both phone and email. Information is provided on the guest arrival process, payments, rematching, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), signposting to support services, Disclosure and Barring Services and home visits.
- Safeguarding home visits and support - 70 visits have been completed and 51 to be arranged. Wait time for contact to arrange a visit has increased from 3 days to 5-7 working days due to a spike in demand. ESOL provision is the most asked for support on visits, we are signposting to Adult and Community Learning webpages to register interest. Feedback from guests on the @Reachdeck translation tool on the website is positive. There is a willingness to work from all guests. Hosts and guests are being given proactive support with respect to signposting and information provision. The home visits are very much appreciated and the face-to-face visit is making a significant positive impact.
- Ukraine payment support – the £200 guest payment and £350/month sponsor payment are being administered by the county council. The web pages have been updated to inform all sponsors and guests of the process for payments.
Communications: We have set up a Facebook page for sponsors to share any of their experiences, offers of support and relevant information about becoming a sponsor, processes and community support. It also allows our team to respond some of the non-urgent queries and provides an information channel for sponsors. So far, the group has 492 members, with requests to join the group daily. Group members, including some community organisations, have been organising various WhatsApp groups, meetings as well as English lessons locally, providing crucial platform for community support.
Warwickshire Homes for Ukraine Sponsors
Health including Mental Wellbeing: Data regarding arrivals has been shared with Clinical Commissioning Group commissioners to support with their planning of primary care arrangements. The Health Task and Finish Group for Asylum Seekers met on the 22nd April to ensure relevant health partners were appraised of the current situation (for all asylum seekers and refugees). With regard to mental health service provision, the usual routes via Wellbeing for Warwickshire services (open access mental health support) are available for guests and sponsors, as are crisis and secondary care mental health services.
An agreement has been made that spot purchase of individual/group-based therapy via the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre will be commissioned (details being finalised) for individuals who may need this. A short guide/leaflet will be produced regarding mental health and wellbeing services.
Schools: Schools are continuing to take in Ukrainian refugees under the usual Admissions route, as guided by the Department for Education. All applications are reviewed under ‘in year admissions’ process. Two officers from the Education Corona helpline are providing specific support for Headteachers and a central email address will be set up that they will monitor the inbox. This will ensure a simple communication channel and support consistency of response. Common issues that can be dealt with via this route will be supporting the admissions process and answering general enquiries. They will also ensure regular reminders are sent to schools about process and latest developments.
As of 11 May 2022, 17 Ukrainian pupils have received formal offers at Warwickshire schools. According to the latest data provided to us by DLUHC, there could be up to 350 early years / school age children arriving in Warwickshire.
Guests and Travel: The county council administers the statutory England National Concessionary Travel Scheme which provides free bus travel on an ongoing basis for people with a qualifying disability and for people who have reached state retirement age. This is often referred to as 'concessionary travel' or sometimes 'freedom pass'. For more information please see: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/free-bus-travel-older-people-people-disabilities-1
Eligibility for this is based on someone living in Warwickshire so any refugee living here could apply if they qualify because of age or disability. Please see links for examples other options for travel
MegaRider tickets for Stratford upon Avon | Stagecoach (stagecoachbus.com),
Diamond Network tickets | Diamond Bus (diamondbuses.com)
Rematching for Sponsorship Breakdown: Whilst we want to ensure as many sponsorship relationships as possible are sustainable and can support guests for six months and longer, in some cases this will not be possible. Rematching will be a new facility that councils will be asked to administer. Councils will be able to use Expression of Interest (EOI) information to assess and identify the suitability of new sponsors. As of 12 May, the EOIs for Warwickshire are as follows, the usual caveat regarding data quality/duplication will apply to the data:
