6.30pm, Wednesday 23^rd March 2022 at Grace Baptist Church, Park Ridings, N8 0LD

The offers of accommodation and support for Ukrainian refugees from so many in our area has been impressive and heartening. Our corner of London has a long tradition of welcoming those fleeing conflict and in the process losing everything. While we can’t begin to imagine the horror and pain the war has brought, we can - individually and as a community - reach out and offer help in any way we can.  The Government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme enables individuals to offer accommodation but groups and organisations can also apply with the added advantage that those who come can be supported as a community by a community.

We are inviting all those who have already expressed interest and everyone across our community who can offer help or support in any way to meet at 6.30 pm in Grace Baptist Church, 48-50 Park Ridings N8 0LD, to agree and support a group application to join the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The application needs to be led by a competent recognised organisation or group. Ryan King, as pastor of Grace Baptist Church, with his wife Uliana (herself Ukrainian) have offered to lead a group that can represent not only those those willing to host refugees, but also help create the community and support they will need if they are to be able to survive this appalling ordeal.

We think our community and the group application it makes will be uniquely equipped to help by:

• Offering accommodation through individual offers to host
• Creating a support group for hosts of whom most is being asked
• Bringing together those amongst us with the skills and experience to offer the best help we can
• Helping match refugees to hosts to ensure the best match is made
• Creating community space in the church halls to enable families to settle and support one another, for example by providing a daytime space to meet each other, for children to meet in family groups and school age children to have a homework club, and other organisations to connect and offer support.  Connections could include contracts with shops selling food or ingredients, the communal kitchen at the church hall, access to electronic media, the opportunity for schools, nurseries, local authorities and health services to engage and a point of contact with the Ukrainian Embassy and Consulate 
• Providing links to Ukrainian churches and other faith groups for ministry and prayer
• Helping with translation (we have several amongst us in the Parkside Malvern community who are Ukrainian) and advice on form filling, signposting, and answering questions that will help make life here more bearable
• Helping with job applications and being a point of contact for local employers who want to help
• Enabling local businesses, charities, and others to offer support
• Just offering kindness in a moment of crisis

With your support and ideas, we will be able to make a group application that will provide the very best support possible for people in need of kindness, respect, and humanity. Please join us, spread the word, and help make this a community response we can be proud of.

We look forward to seeing you at 6.30pm on Wednesday, 23^rd March. In the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at this address or speak to Ryan directly.  And, of course, pass the word on. We will need all the help and ideas possible to make our offer to help successful and sustainable.