THE first Ukrainian refugees have started to arrive in Lymm after villagers rallied to set up a support group, to help those fleeing their war-torn country following Russia’s invasion.
While the war in Ukraine has shocked everyone, the response from Lymm has been to open up their doors to the refugees – more hospitably called ‘Guests’, and give refuge from the violence they have been experiencing in their country.
Dozens of people have registered for the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, offering everything from single rooms to whole houses.
Lymm Local Lesley Loughridge was one of the first to welcome her guests to the village, a recently married young couple Yaroslav and Daria.
Lesley said: “I joined the Lymm Ukrainian Group on Facebook and quickly matched with a young couple. We began chatting online, to learn about their situation and to see if we were right for each other. They were lovely from the off. We started the visa process, which was fairly pain-free ( my couple had international passports which helps the process). They awoke on 23rd February to the sound of bombs exploding (they lived very near an airbase), and didn’t realise that within 6 hours their lives would change so dramatically.
“They packed up what they could in the back of a mini and embarked upon a 2,500 mile journey over the next six weeks. Because they were in East Ukraine they had to embark upon a very risky journey through Russia to Georgia while they waited for their visas. They are the same ages as some of my children and it’s just unbelievable to imagine them having to do that; leaving behind family, friends and good jobs. My couple were only married last Autumn ( they sent me their gorgeous wedding video!) and were looking forward to building their lives together in East Ukraine – heartbreaking!”
The recently married couple
The couple arrived in Lymm, after driving from Ukraine: “We had an emotional meeting as they pulled up in their little Mini,” added Lesley. “They are totally adorable and we are now getting on with all the paperwork to get them ready to work, which they are very keen to do quickly. The support of the Lymm and District group and the Council has been second to none – it has helped immensely. Lots of companies and charities are offering help too and translation apps make communicating very easy if your guests don’t speak much English. There have already been coffee mornings and meetings and we have lots of events and meet-ups planned to help them all settle in and feel part of the community, for all age groups. I feel this will be a fabulous life-changing experience for all of us involved – it is so lovely to think you can do your little bit to help.”
Still waiting for their guests is Sheila and Eric Quirk. They signed up immediately for the homes scheme and looked for a family to host. They were lucky that instantly opportunities became available to potential hosts in the village via Facebook and WhatsApp pages sharing Ukrainian contacts from Kristen Bender, a Lymm resident.
Kristen had worked in Ukraine as a Human Rights lawyer and had direct links to people seeking refuge.
Eric said:” Unfortunately, the first few families we offered to host did not work out. We spoke via WhatsApp to other villagers, so see if we could share the families who wanted to come over to the UK. Lots of families wanting to come over consisted of Grandmother, mother and 2/3 children. Through this, I have met a lot of Lymm villagers who under normal circumstances I would never have met as we discussed who could take which members of the family and what facilities the hosts would try to offer to refugee families.
“On April 2nd we offered to sponsor a family of 5. Mum, Dad and 3 beautiful girls aged under 11. They live in Western Ukraine but close to the Belarus border.
After initial texts to the family, we agreed to Facetime with them on a Sunday afternoon. We showed the family our bungalow and garden. We immediately connected with the parents (Valerii and Iryna). The girls were very shy to appear on the screen. Gradually as the call continued the girls would peek round their parent’s shoulders to look at us. We tried to describe Lymm, the facilities and schools available. The first question the father asked us was ‘How do your children feel about you hosting us?’
“We explained that my 2 children live in Lymm and were the same age as them and were more than happy for us to host a Ukrainian family. We explained that we had grandchildren roughly the same age as their children and we hoped that they would play together over the summer to help with their English and make it easier for the guest children to start schools with someone they knew. Sofiia the eldest girl is good at swimming, playing the piano and Rhythmic Gymnastics. Their happy world was turned upside down on 24th February.”
“Sheila asked the family to think about our offer and whether they wanted her to start the visa application process. They did not need to think twice about the offer. We should start and make the visa applications straight away.”
The process is fairly complex, but Sheila commented “You do feel responsible for the family and the impact of not getting the form completed correctly. Much chatter was pinging on to the ‘Lymm Hosts WhatsApp group’ about what to input where and what documents to upload. I think we all filled them in differently. So far, we have received 4 of the 5 visas after 4 weeks of waiting. Warrington Borough Council has been excellent. Within days of submitting the visa, a housing officer arranged to visit our house to check that we had room for 2 adults and 3 children and another officer performed DBS checks as we were hosting children. The final check was a gas safety certificate. So, we are all set to go – subject to finding some bunk beds and clearing out the wardrobes!”
Sheila and Eric have kept in contact with the family at least once a week via Facetime and Google translate app. They find it reassuring to speak to each other a couple of times a week. Sheila added: “Iryna was keen to understand how we will live together. How the cooking and cleaning will be done. The general advice on these points, is to have rules and share the cooking. We are looking forward to trying new foods. We have learned that the family loves to cook fresh food, and live on the 20th floor of an apartment building. Missiles, fired from Belarus go over the apartments and on to towns further south of their town, Rivnenska, north west of L’viv. In Rivenska, sports activities have been stopped and there is a curfew from 8pm. Often there are air raid warnings during the day and night. When this happens, the family has to hurry down to a nuclear bunker.
Eric added “The town is built around a nuclear power plant with our guest family and their parents working in the power plant. Iryna and Valerii will leave behind their parents and their brothers. The children think they are coming on a long holiday, but keep saying they want to go somewhere safe.”
Sheila has been working with lots of people in the village to plan to provide weekly meeting venues and social cafes for the guest families, so they can meet up during the day to a chat or to learn English. She added “if you see posters in the village in Ukrainian or hear a foreign language emanating from the various meeting rooms in Lymm, stop by and say hello to our guests.”
Working on the Village response team is local Cllr Graham Gowland.
Graham said: “Lymm always steps up in a crisis, but seeing all the different people offering their homes, arranging support groups for both the hosts and guests and generally working together has been really inspiring. We’ve got an amazing community and I know every Ukrainian will receive a warm welcome to the village.”
People interested in becoming a local host can find out more at https://lymm.uk/ukraine or https://www.facebook.com/groups/3096199497306336
