New crisis looms for Ukrainians in the UK

Almost 30,000 Ukrainian refugees person been successful the UK for astir six months, investigation by BBC News shows. It means astir a 3rd of the full arrivals nether the Homes for Ukraine strategy are facing the extremity of their archetypal hosting arrangements. So what happens to them now?

Six months ago, Olena Sachavo, 44, and her 22-year girl Diana, arrived astatine Stansted airport, from war-torn Irpin. In tears, they were welcomed by Clare Maddox and her daughter.

Clare had hosted Diana a decennary ago, erstwhile she came to the UK with a charity, Chernobyl Children's Lifeline. Now she was offering a refuge to Olena and Diana, who had fled the warfare with Russia. BBC News was determination to witnesser the reunion. The 2 families hugged, incapable to fto go.

As portion of the scheme, Ukrainian families escaping the warfare were offered the accidental to travel to the UK for up to 3 years and person entree to healthcare and benefits, provided a named idiosyncratic agreed to enactment them up for a minimum of six months.

During the past six months, Olena and Diana person lived successful Clare's home, successful Billericay, Essex. But the Maddox household suffered a bereavement during that time, and portion they are pleased the sponsorship happened, determination person been strains.

Olena and Diana's sponsorship play has officially ended. But nary of them cognize what volition hap next.

"It's truly stressing maine out", sighs Clare. "I'm not going to chuck them out. But astatine the aforesaid clip my occupation is done." Like galore hosts, she is grappling with ways to assistance her Ukrainian refugees find alternate accommodation.

And sometimes the load is excessively overmuch to bear. "My guests are hoping I volition magic determination retired of bladed air. They deliberation I'll assistance them find somewhere, they are relying connected me", says Clare.

She is wide her disappointment lies with the government, not her guests. "The authorities was saying, radical of UK unfastened your doors; we'll beryllium supportive of you. And they haven't been," she adds.

She has contacted her MP and section councils, but says she has met a "wishy-washy" response. "When I offered to host, I hadn't truly appreciated however overmuch I'd person to do," Clare says. "Looking aft them is not truthful aggravated present arsenic it was astatine the beginning.

"I utilized to thrust them astir to unfastened slope accounts, to occupation centre appointments, to the Ukrainian radical meetings," she says. "They are highly reliant connected me. Their English is conscionable not bully capable to bash thing by themselves. I can't blasted them for that."

"Nobody successful the councils has been fixed immoderate guidelines astir what to bash with these people," Clare says. "The onus is connected the big to find accommodation for them."

Clare's guests are besides feeling the strain. "I recognize Clare precise well, due to the fact that the location is precise small. There is 1 bath betwixt the 5 of us," says Olena. She says she and Diana are surviving successful a tiny country - conscionable 2 metres by 2 metres. "We'd besides similar to leave," she adds.

Some Ukrainians person returned home. But for Olena and Diana determination is nary imaginable mode back. "We were dropped into unfastened h2o by the war, and Clare is our information buoy," Olena says. "Clare has a bosom of gold."

Olena had her ain manner store successful Ukraine, but she present works up to 45 hours a week successful a cafe, which is simply a 45-minute locomotion away. She is resigned to the move. "Clare has her ain family, and we are not portion of her family," Olena says.

Clare says Basildon Council told her they could registry Olena and her girl arsenic homeless. If registered homeless, Olena and Diana would beryllium apt to beryllium offered accommodation successful a hotel, but it astir apt wouldn't beryllium successful Billericay, wherever Olena works and wherever they've built up a enactment web of section Ukrainians.

"I'm inactive waiting successful limbo for a effect from the government. They don't cognize what connected world they are going to bash with Ukrainians", says Clare.

Essex County Council said lodging issues are the work of the section city, borough oregon territory assembly but Ukrainians volition beryllium re-matched with caller sponsors arsenic adjacent to their existent determination arsenic possible.

Jane, 67, and her hubby Nick, some retired lawyers from Oxfordshire, person been hosting Anna Semenenko, 40, and her 2 children, aged 3 and 13, astatine their home. Anna's household is from Donetsk, successful eastbound Ukraine, and they are facing a akin situation.

"I consciousness precise blameworthy talking astir the extremity of hosting due to the fact that the bosom wants to help", says Jane.

She talks of the galore joys of hosting, but says determination are stresses also. "They unrecorded present similar a large family, but they are not family. It's rather a antithetic narration to recognize and found - 1 that we've not done before", Jane says.

She says it would person been adjuvant to recognise "from the beginning" that big families were not determination to supply accommodation for the entirety of the war.

Jane says she was told Ukrainians would beryllium prioritised for assembly accommodation astatine meetings tally by Cherwell Council, but truthful far, nary has been found.

Anna says she understands Jane's presumption arsenic the archetypal statement was for six months.

"We were hoping that the warfare would travel to an extremity by this time, and I didn't expect that we would request to enactment successful the UK for overmuch longer," she says.

Like Olena and Diana, Anna is resigned to having to move, but she is worried.

"I'm disquieted that if we don't find accommodation, I'll beryllium forced to enforce alteration connected my children again. There is simply a hard travel up of them, they don't person roots. And different alteration would beryllium a stroke for them," she says.

Anna is simply a mathematician, specialising successful relativity theory. She re-trained arsenic a hairdresser and aboriginal worked arsenic an accountant successful Kyiv. She is acceptable to chopped hairsbreadth "non-stop" and is considering renting privately. But if she remains connected benefits, galore landlords would not hold to her renting accommodation.

"I'd request to beryllium to the landlord that I gain capable to proceed paying my rent. I request a deposit and a guarantor," Anna says. Her teenage lad has besides settled successful the section secondary school, and her girl has conscionable started astatine a section nursery.

She doesn't cognize what to bash next. "I tin walk 2 hours connected the authorities tract and not recognize anything", she says.

In the meantime Anna and Jane are looking for an alternate big nearby, truthful that Anna's children don't person to determination schools again. "We've tried to find caller section sponsors for Anna and her household but truthful acold no-one has travel forward," says Jane.

With nary wide guidance from the government, some sides consciousness helpless.

Cherwell District Council said it was moving to rematch Ukrainian refugees to caller hosts and investigating "moving on" options to find autarkic accommodation.

Oxford City Council said it was asking hosts and guests to proceed with their arrangements due to the fact that determination was nary spare societal lodging capableness disposable successful Oxfordshire, portion the backstage rented assemblage has constricted capableness and is precise expensive.

Nearly a 100,000 Ukrainians are successful the UK connected the scheme, with galore looking for caller sponsors astatine a clip erstwhile determination are few.

Meanwhile, sponsors are calling MPs to inquire for help, and MPs are seeking guidance from the authorities and section councils, which are being told they person been fixed backing to help.

Some families are agreeing to widen their sponsorship. The erstwhile refugees minister, Lord Harrington, has urged the authorities to treble the outgo sponsors presently person - to £700 a period - to promote much to help.

In a statement, the authorities said "the bulk of sponsors privation to proceed hosting for longer than six months".

"Where guests bash determination connected they person a fig of options, including to participate backstage rental oregon find a caller big to sponsor them. Councils person a work to guarantee families are not near without a extortion implicit their heads," the spokesperson added.

But a conjugation of civilian nine organisations and charities has written to the premier curate calling for much assistance for Ukrainian families looking for homes to rent and buy, other wintertime payments for hosts, and the assignment of a caller refugees minister.

Kate Daniels, from the Association for Family Therapy (AFT), has acceptable up a web of therapists providing enactment for hosts, crossed England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

She says determination is "nothing worse than to consciousness successful an intolerable presumption and consciousness helpless". "Hosts acquisition guilt and a consciousness of shame, and each this contempt often having been highly generous and helpful", she says.