Updates: 21 April | 1 May | 9 May | 14 May | 26 May | 26 July | 29 August | Autumn | End of Year Report 2022 | April 2023
Bibles in Ukrainian are available via The Bible Society and there’s a lovely story book in Ukrainian for 6-9 year olds - Click here for these and other resources in Ukrainian.
Updated 21 April 2022
We have been meeting with a number of key organisations this week and continue to be involved with a number of host families and supporting Ukrainians, both still in Europe and having arrived here. Although these numbers for us are not great they give us a very good feel for ‘the state of the nation’ on these issues.
Concerns continue to be raised over the matching process and role of social media in this and we are now working closely with OPORA and Love Bristol, both organisations have direct and very close links into the Ukrainian people on the ground in Eastern Europe looking to come to UK. We are also independently in contact with a number of people working with Ukrainians fleeing from Ukraine.
Numbers crossing the border from Ukraine continue to increase day on day. Romania reports for yesterday that:
On the border with Ukraine, 4,371 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania (increasing 17%), and on the border with the Republic of Moldova, 1,334 Ukrainian citizens entered (increasing 36%).
Since the beginning of this crisis, until April 19, 2022, at 24.00, 751,951 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania.
Figures for Wales are interesting for visas granted via the Homes For Ukraine Scheme, for each of our 6 North Wales Counties:
The total figure for Wales is 1,101 visas via Homes For Ukraine Scheme, and 392 Sponsored by the Welsh Government.
We don’t have access to figures for visas applied for at a local level, but the indications are that across the 6 Counties the figure looks to be around 30 host homes, averaging just over 2 Ukrainians per host home, for each County.
In terms of other concerns and key conversations that have been happening:
How best to support hosts - training packages are currently being developed to help hosts prepare, and then manage their households across the spectrum, from relationship, cultural and practical issues to recognising and handling trauma, and where to access appropriate support.
The onwards movement for Ukrainians looking at more permanent housing and job opportunities and Ukrainian led businesses. Being mindful that most adults will be women, a recent piece of research by a major organisation working with Ukrainians coming to UK, suggests a significant number are in finance, IT, graphic design and beauty industries.
We are also very excited about the prospect of partnering with Rotary on some specific projects and programmes to support Ukrainians, as they come into our communities across North wales - more on this in the coming days.
Here is the current Written Statement from Jane Hutt MS (Minister for Social Justice)
Updated 1 May 2022
The Webinar recording from 25th April is now on-line as well as the comments and Q&A from the chat during the Webinar.
Ukrainians arriving
We are beginning to hear of guests arriving at Host Homes more frequently. Around 10 have arrived in Conwy County and we know of several more arriving this week. We would expect these increasing numbers to be similar across all counties
Please keep eyes and ears open in your own communities and let your Local Hubs know of any arrivals so the community support can be mobilised
We are continuing to support a range of Ukrainians and Host families through some of their tricky situations - travel, health, accommodation etc
Local Community Welcome Hubs
We have an increasing number of joining our network
Please let us know if you would like us to include you in our Community Hub Page office@link-international.org
We are excited that both the Coptic Church & The RC Church in Llandudno are keen to be involved in offering support
Job Opportunities
We are looking ahead to developing job opportunities and in particular business advice to Ukrainians wanting to set up their own businesses - we are developing a webpage
Host Rematching
We have been exploring a strategy with Local Authorities for rematching where necessary and creating a pastoral care follow process for Ukrainians and hosts.
If you know of hosts who have not ‘matched’, then we would encourage them to let their LA know they would be available for considering being a ‘rematch’ host
Human Trafficking
There are rising concerns over and Ali is working on some training and awareness around this.
Conwy Foodbank
We have a plan now for moving forwards. They have school uniform, children's clothing, baby 'hardware' and soft stuff and welcome bags https://www.link-international.org/welcome-projects. The Spyce Building on Rhiw Road where the Food Bank is located, now has a completely clear 'auditorium' which can be used for social events and a Colwyn Bay gathering space.
We arranged with the Food Bank, that if we let the hosts know then if they contact you or us, we will do a referral to the Food Bank (ie we simply email the Food Bank that so and so will need this and that), it can then be either collected or we can arrange someone to deliver.
Hiraeth Effect
“Many of the needs of the Ukrainian People in Wales can be best met by Ukrainians themselves”
We understand that as the many people from Ukraine come to Wales, they will have a deep sense of longing for their homes and their homeland. Our desire is that they feel so welcome, and have such a deep sense of belonging, that when they return to Ukraine, to visit or to resettle, they have hiraeth for the land this word belongs to.
We have a venue in Conwy available for hosting events for Ukrainians and forms a key resource for developing the Hiraeth Programme. The first event is already fully funded and serviced (whenever it happens)
Next Webinar
Friday Evening 6th May Please click this link and follow through to register.
The evening will cover:
Update on National and Regional picture
Progress on gathering a team of interpreters.
BCUHB Hubs Update.Personal experience of setting up a community group working together to welcome Ukraine refugees into a local community.
What support do you need to set up your hub?
How to support Host families and ideas on providing respite for Host families.
Updated 9 May 2022
Numbers
The map below gives the numbers for each county of Visas issued. The percentages are UK-wide averages and I think 75% is likely to be close for applications processed - so, for example, we might expect another 18 in Conwy to have Visas issued. Regarding the UK-wide average for arrivals, it seems to be looking closer to 50% of those with Visas have arrived.
Conwy Clothing Bank
The Food bank in Rhiw Road, has now the facility for providing clothes for Ukrainians and a range of other non-food essentials for babies and just getting life going in North Wales - click here for more information
Trends
Rematching - there is some cause for concern over a number of host and guest failure to work out. The WG and Counties are looking to create the availability of secondary placements from hosts who have registered, but not yet been matched within the counties. Training for hosts and having forums for discussing challenges in sharing a home is vital and we have collated training resources available on a webpage and counties are beginning to look at making provision via outsourcing training for hosts. Tan Y Maen is also working on a training package.
Safeguarding - there was a plea at a recent All-Wales meeting for normality to resume ie safeguarding training being the baseline expectation for all involved directly.
Language Support - we are having increased enquiries about support for children in schools and ESOL/EAL opportunities for adults. We are collating information for a specific webpage this week. In the first instance, in school, the answer is to take the situation to the school ALNCo.
Information confusion - although there is much information available, for those coming out of a traumatic situation it is very confusing. Our website is now too ‘busy’ and we are actively working on its simplification.
Family v Homes For Ukraine Schemes - there is disparity and this is causing anxiety. There is a significant challenge for families having ‘had’ to bring their family members to them and simply not having suitable accommodation or sufficient financial resources to support.
Human Trafficking - there is increasing concern and we are being encouraged to become aware of the signs and what to do if we have a concern.
Updated 14 May 2022
So much has happened across North Wales and the flow of Ukrainians has become relatively rapid! A number of other communities have been in touch with us and are really excited to be getting ready and are starting to welcome their Ukrainian guests. It's actually really exciting to hear of the range of communities receiving their guests, from some of the most rural and mountainous communities, to those on the coast and across all of our 6 Counties.
In Conwy, we received our free Vodafone SIMs and they are being offered at the same time as collecting the settling in grants. Colwyn Bay Library is doing biometrics, local wellness hubs are in the planning along with BCUHB Hubs, for medical screening and a range of wrap around care opportunities. We will be with Conwy County and our specific role will be to see how we can support our Ukrainian friends to harness their own experiences, skills, and interests to support their community here and to share with us, to enhance our communities and life together. This will also enable us to follow the progress of many of our families and support, as necessary.
Six clear concerns are emerging as time moves on:
The need to support hosts with some training and opportunities to share experiences - sharing your home brings real challenges but being able to think these through ahead of time or share later with other hosts is hugely helpful. We are gathering resources together for this and are considering how we could provide a face-face opportunity for hosts to meet together for some training, reflection and sharing. I have gathered some resources together and the Sanctuary e-learning course and Webinar from 11 May are really useful https://www.link-international.org/preparation-for-hosts. There is also a training package being prepared and piloted.
The need for secondary placements for Ukrainians in host homes - for those really struggling, the Counties are now receiving information from the registration on the Homes For Ukraine scheme, for those who have not been matched. They are asking if such unmatched hosts would be prepared to be secondary placement hosts - the feedback from this in the early stages is really positive. This also means that those who are in Welcome Centres and wish to move to a host home will be able to do so more easily.
Human Trafficking - we are hearing disturbing reports about this and the use of Holyhead as an entry point - Ali's ppt is on the Resources page from our last Webinar and I would encourage you to keep this in mind and be aware of the 'red flags' and report anything that concerns you. The safety of the women and children is of the highest priority.
Personal safeguarding - raising the safeguarding awareness of all who are involved in our communities is of paramount importance and just doing the short e-learning course is part of this process of keeping everyone safe https://www.link-international.org/safeguarding-elearning
TB Screening - this is not mandatory; however, it is important for children going to Secondary Schools and the WG advice/instruction is that before going to school, secondary children should be screened. This seems to be causing some delays, but the Counties are now addressing this to speed up the process. Primary school children are able to go to school and then be screened later.
Public Transport - we have had reports, which we have made into official complaints, about several incidents where bus drivers have not accepted documentation, do not know the rules, or have been offensive. We have other reports of the free transport being used and with only wonderful experiences. We have discussed with WG about Travel Passes - there are significant logistical challenges with making this happen, but the officers responsible are looking at options and seeing if there is a better solution. However, we have had some progress this week and we need to get this leaflet out to all Ukrainians:
The video recording of the last Webinar and the ppt resources are now available
Finally, all our 6 counties are now providing first point of contacts for the Ukraine Response and any concerns or uncertainties in your counties can be referred directly to your point of contact. I have put this information here https://www.link-international.org/local-authority-contact
Updated 26 May 2022
The Big Themes:
Need to support hosts with training and local host support groups - it’s been encouraging to sit in with Flintshire’s Host Training Event and work through the e-learning course produced by The Sanctuary Foundation.
Facilitating the Ukrainians meet each other and provide mutual support - we were thrilled at the response to our ‘Gathering’ last Saturday. We’ve put a short report together below. Next week we are facilitating an evening Zoom Event & BBQ in June.
Conwy & Denbighshire have been running Well-being Clinics, on Mondays and Thursdays, for complete wrap around support - it is organised on an invitation to appointment system and provides unhurried care and conversation. We have been thrilled to be involved and spending time with other support agencies to generate a unified, co-ordinated approach and meeting Ukrainians often for a second or third time.
Auditing the experiences and skills and qualifications to support Ukrainians find appropriate work - more coming on checking the comparability of qualifications.
ESOL - we have 2 retired ESOL Teachers offering to support language skills for children and for adults - more information soon.
We have been collating information to try to make it easier to find in one place.
All our activities require funding and we are hugely grateful to a number of generous supporters - we have an on-line giving platform, but we prefer larger sums to be transferred direct by BACS - forms here.
The numbers are through for 6 Countries - they are constantly changing but give an idea of scale for providing support etc
Updated 26 july 2022
This presentation summarises our journey so far, with updated information on the Welcome and Support Hubs along with the number of Ukrainians arriving and expected.
There is some amazing work going on in our hubs. Prestatyn is doing sterling work supporting many Ukrainians arriving in the Welcome Centre and two very different models are illustrated by those along the Conwy County Coast and North Wales Southern Crescent - see CASE STUDIES
As many more Ukrainians arrive in temporary Welcome Centres, the Welcome and Support Hubs are really coming into their own.
Conwy LA has invited us to partner with them and we are working hard to harness all the amazing volunteers to pull together to meet the needs.
Language and jobs are key needs and we are working hard to reduce these barriers and are keeping our webpages up-to-date with the most recent information coming through e.g. https://www.link-international.org/localinfo see business advice and Jobs icon.
We are also working closely with the Welsh Government and this has refined our vision and focus into three target strategies:
Arriving and Settling
Community Action and Support
Staying connected & long-term support
NEW is Wales’ launch of “Offer your Home” scheme
New Scheme
Call to offer your home to host Ukrainians as numbers increase into temporary Welcome Centres
Finally we have been really encouraged by the support from Vodafone and we are able to provide every Ukrainian arriving in Wales with a free SIM card
Updated 29 August 2022
Local and national partnerships continue to be developed as we participate in the 'big' conversation with WG and agencies involved in planning and delivery of support for the Ukrainian guests. (WG External Stakeholders Group, Welsh Refugee Council, Housing Justice Cymru, WCVA etc). The following specific highlights summarise much of our work this month:
We recently gave a presentation to the Voluntary Councils and Resettlement Leads for all 22 counties of Wales about our work over the past 6 months, the barriers that our guests have identified (language, employment, education, etc) and the need to enable and empower them at this stage and not enforce any sense of control as to what is available and decisions made.
We were invited to the recent Welsh Govt 'External Stakeholders' meeting chaired by Minister for Social Justice, and we continue to report back to WG with updates given by partners and contacts in the 6 counties of N. Wales.
We recently visited projects in 4 local counties looking at the sustainable support, language and training options - moving away from the first stages of welcome and donations. In each of these locations it is clear that the Ukrainians want to move into work and be as independent as possible with our help. They are proud and want to be able to integrate into society with appropriate support, and the common theme from all our regional partners in the 6 counties in N. Wales is that we need to listen to them and provide opportunities to meet their expressed needs.
We were pleased to engage in a joint meeting with Llandudno Rotary, Conwy Resettlement Lead, Cabinet Member for Safeguarding, Llandudno Mayor and Link Int. Ali requested Cllr Roberts and Ms Marrubi join the discussion, following very productive meetings with each of them, so that there is a collaborative approach going forward in Llandudno. It was also really good to hear about the activities of Llandudno Rotary and plans for the future.
Ali accepted an invitation to the Ukrainian scout camp and met with one of the leaders from the UK's Ukrainian Orthodox Church and invited him to visit us in Sept.
Link Int arranged for a trailer of clothes to be delivered to the Denbighshire site for new arrivals and we have visited to deliver 1500 SIM cards for phones and devices to facilitate greater connection as the site has no wifi available. Home-Start Conwy delivered two trailers loads of bikes for the children. The Prestatyn Hub is providing close support.
We have also distributed SIM cards to other counties through Resettlement leads and hold a stock from Vodafone to be distributed as requested.
We arranged for North Wales Tourism (Go North Wales) to deliver a free 3 day training course to Ukrainian guests who are currently in the hotels in Conwy, which was led by the CEO. It was very well attended and well received. This was the first of several courses that will be offered in our partnership with NW Tourism.
We have been working hard to remove barriers to employment – language, DBS, methods of recruitment. We keep our webpage up-to-date as we find more information and we are really pleased to share our new information enabling Ukrainians to access DBS from Ukraine and UK.
We have been talking with the Welsh ESOL leads and local ESOL providers about the English classes that will be delivered in the autumn and the local college will be assessing all guests in the near future to then direct them to the appropriate level of classes. We do however want to move ahead with the local 'Cultural and Language Hub' in Llandudno where conversational English can take place.
We have some very positive plans coming together with the Church in Wales in Llandudno area via the Aberconwy Mission Area and we are beginning to develop a webpage of events venues and activities for Ukrainian guests to join in - https://www.link-international.org/aberconwyma. Further developments in outreach and pastoral care to the Ukrainians arriving in the area are in the planning stage. We are also working with the St Asaph Diocese Engagement Officer to develop a Diocesan Forum for Ukrainian support, to share ideas and harness and integrate resources.
There have been conversations with WG and Conwy County that safeguarding procedures need to be followed correctly by volunteers. It was agreed at the recent meeting that volunteers are expected to have an Enhanced DBS, come under a recognised organisation and be covered by the appropriate insurance and policies of the agencies they are representing or venues where activities are taking place.
Issues around potential exploitation risks have been identified and discussed with NW Police, and Ali's expertise within the work of 'Haven of Light' has been very useful in local and national meetings, and the wider European picture of trafficking and crimes that have been noted.
The next North Wales Regional Update will be held on Sept 6th from 7.30pm online where we will be joined by organisations and groups from other counties to share news, concerns, best practise etc as we move forward together.
Autumn 2022:
Ali and I are working on a strategic plan to build on the successes and experience of the last 6 months and operate within the capacity of the Charity. This will include:
Intelligence gathering via our existing relationship with WG and our local LAs and then dissemination to support local strategic planning.
Consultancy & personal support within our local area and regionally as time permits and is appropriate.
Support and advice re volunteering in CCBC, as capacity permits.
Networking and facilitating local support and integration in our communities for Ukrainians.
Social and integration events for Ukrainians.
On-line support and training across N Wales for Community Hubs and Forums to create effective local hubs.
Important issues to prepare for include: long-term housing, winter fuel bills, language and employment.
December 2022 End of Year reporT
We have been reflecting on our journey with our partners and Ukrainian Guests over the past 10 months. There is much to learn but much to be grateful for and it has been such a privilege to have played just a small part in supporting Ukrainians as they have arrived and find a home in our communities. It has also be an amazing experience to share a common interest and vision and in the process make some wonderful new friends.
It is a bit of a long read but we hope that you will browse through and spot the sections that will be of interest and value to you as you continue your work of making Wales a wonderful home for the many of our Ukrainian Guests.