Telford and Wrekin gearing up to welcome refugees from Ukraine
Telford & Wrekin Council is getting ready to welcome the first Ukrainian refugees into the borough, as part of the initial phase of the national Homes for Ukraine Scheme.
In this first phase, the council is contacting sponsors who have been named by refugees to offer advice and support ahead of their guests arriving.
Councillor Paul Watling (Labour), Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for stronger and safer communities, said: “Our role is to welcome Ukrainian guests coming to Telford and Wrekin, and make sure that they have access to the same public services that other residents of the borough enjoy.
“In this first stage in the national Homes for Ukraine scheme, we’ve been given the details of people in the borough who have been named as sponsors by around 60 refugees from Ukraine. We’re getting in touch with them to explain the process, arranging to carry out the necessary checks and property visits and letting them know about the range of support we can offer them and their guests.
“This is part of the wider national scheme but at the moment, we only have details of those specific named sponsors, so if you have registered for the national Homes for Ukraine scheme but don’t have a named guest, we won’t have your details to contact you just yet.
“Once this first phase is complete, we then expect the wider scheme to be opened up, with sponsor and refugees being matched up by the national system. Once we have those details we’ll be able to start contacting more people, so we’ll be in touch as soon as we can.”
Anyone wishing to register as a sponsor for the national Homes for Ukraine scheme should do so online at www.homesforukraine.gov.uk
