Roles - Homes for Ukraine
Sponsors
As a sponsor, you're here to support and help your guests to adapt to life in the UK.
The first thing to do will be to make sure they're comfortable in their accommodation and setup with the basics. They should have enough food and essential supplies like toiletries. It's also worth checking that they've got access to a mobile phone and the internet so they can stay in touch with family and friends.
You should try to help direct your guests to public services, for example, registering with a GP or NHS dentist.
Sponsors also need to:
- provide suitable accommodation for at least 6 months
- stay in regular contact with their before their arrival to help organise and coordinate their arrival in the UK, meet them on arrival, and facilitate transfer to their accommodation
- signpost the guest to public services – including benefits and access to education and assist them with tasks such as registering with a local GP surgery
Sponsors are eligible for an optional 'thank you payment' of £350 per month to be administered by local authority.
Local authorities
We are responsible for:
- safeguarding checks - complete DBS checks on all adults in the sponsor household and enhanced DBS checks where child or vulnerable adult refugees will be arriving
- housing checks - to confirm property is suitable and safe
- welfare visit - at least one in-person visit either before or shortly after a guest has arrived. This is to confirm that the accommodation is suitable and the guest is well and that there are no serious safeguarding, or welfare concerns. We will be required to provide general reception arrangements and immediate support on arrival if guests require it.
- interim payment for guest - we should make an initial payment of £200 per guest for subsistence costs pending Universal Credit or State Pension Credit payments - additional payments can be made at discretion
- provision of education - we are required to provide school places for children of school age and nursery provision
- service referrals - where necessary we should provide advice and referrals to specialist public health services as appropriate. For example, mental health services, adult social care, and children’s services
- work and benefits - we should support guests to access local Jobcentre Plus appointments for benefit assessments and job-seeking
- homelessness assistance - there may be some cases where the sponsor and guest relationship breaks down and the guest is homeless or at risk of homelessness. Our statutory homelessness duties will apply in this instance
- community integration - we will play a key role in supporting the integration of Ukrainian families into their local communities
- administering payments to sponsors - sponsors will be eligible for an optional ‘thank you payment’ of £350 per month (as long as the sponsorship arrangement exists), for up to 12 months in total. This should be paid after DBS checks and housing checks have been completed.
Contact us
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions:
- call 01332 640000 Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm
- Deaf people can text 07774 333412.