I know a significant number of readers will have additional people to cook for this Christmas. Oxfordshire is one of the places that has welcomed one of the highest numbers of Ukrainian refugees, thanks to the generosity of local people.
Over the course of the year, through helping with visas and other issues, as well as visits I’ve made to English lessons, group visits I’ve hosted in parliament and the like, I have gotten to know a number of the personal stories of the refugees and their families.
Many are now working locally and some have gone off to university (a couple will be joining me for work experience next year). Some are even running their own businesses: Alyona has opened The Cake Bar in Wantage, 6B Grove Street, with Lara making the cakes.
Of course, all of them would rather be at home in Ukraine with their families, safe and well. But given most of them can’t be for now, they’re making the most of their time here.
Over 100,000 people have been welcomed through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and nearly 150,000 Ukrainians overall. The Government has just announced they are extending the thank you payments to families hosting refugees for a further year and increasing the amount of the payments from £350 to £500 per month.
The Government has already given £1.1 billion to councils to support them in accommodating the arrivals and money for this will continue, albeit at a lower rate than previously. There will also be additional money both to help Ukrainians move into their own homes and to help councils relieve the pressure that accommodating additional people brings.
Not everything has been smooth sailing, of course. Some refugees require rematching. Sometimes this is because they want to live somewhere else – perhaps they are in a rural area and because of transport and other issues they want to be in a town or city, as they are used to in Ukraine.
Sometimes the relationship between host and refugee breaks down, which is an inevitable feature of schemes like this and happened, for example, with the Syrian refugees we hosted several years ago.
But overwhelmingly the Scheme has been a huge success. Meanwhile, we are also supporting people from Hong Kong, with 76,000 people from there having been given visas (I had the pleasure of meeting a family living locally as a result of this recently who are already volunteering through the Didcot Good Neighbour Scheme) and Afghanistan. According to the UN, there were 231,000 refugees in the UK as of last month, underlining the country’s generosity.
I wish all readers – and those you may be hosting – a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
