We thought it would be a good idea to share with everyone how the Ukrainian Support Group is developing and to put out a call for anyone who is interested in getting involved in whatever way they can.
At the moment, we have six families who have let us know that they are willing and able to host Ukrainians, which is fantastic. We would love to have a few more volunteers for this. This link may be helpful if you are thinking about hosting: East Sussex and Ukraine
Understandably hosting is not for everyone but there are plenty of other ways that we are hoping that we can get involved as a village. If and when we have any refugees in the village, we really want to make sure that they (and their hosts) feel supported. Our thoughts are that additional help could include things like:
- “TLC” days which could include coach outings, sports activities, bbqs, Ukrainian cooking lessons – all ideas gratefully received!
- Financial contributions – obviously all this will come with a cost.
- Driving – while the hosts will largely be responsible for sorting out travel there will always be times when this might not be possible so a pool of drivers would be extremely helpful.
- Help needed for the possible use of the village hall as a “drop in” centre.
We are in touch with other villages who are going to be receiving refugees and we are hoping to be able to link up with them, so we are not all inventing our own wheel.
We have already linked up with Toby Illingworth who is a local councillor in Buxted. He has set up the Buxted Refugee Programme and, to make organization around hosting easier, like some other villages, we have decided to join with this bigger organization. Toby has spent the last week in Poland setting up contacts locally to assist any Ukrainians who want to come to the UK. He has so far managed to pair up several Ukrainians with people in the program and is hoping that he will be able to find many more.
The Parish Council is fully supportive of all efforts to support refugees and will help in any way possible.
All offers however large or small will be extremely welcome! If you have any questions, please get in touch with either David or Kate. Further updates will be coming!
David Knight on fletching.vicar@gmail.com
Kate Minch on kateminch1@gmail.com