Homes for Ukraine – Behind the Scenes

While the gov asked islanders to open their homes to people fleeing war in Ukraine, the politicians in one sense had the easy role to play, it was up to the civil servants to out how to make it work.

To find out how this worked, we sat down with Alex Cowie, who leads the small team that put together so much of the work behind the scheme and has helped along the way to ensure the guests settled in as best they could. 

Alex said: ‘There’s the front room staff and the backroom staff and we’re the backroom staff. So we have three staff and we deal with all the registrations from the point of registration. So we speak to all the hosts who registered, we speak to their family members, and we talk them through the expectations, and their understanding of what being a host means.

‘We get permissions because to be a host, there has to be a number of checks, those checks are done by the DHSC, the Police and then we do the very last check, which is the home suitability check carried out by DEFA.’

As well as the checks, the team also spoke to the families of potential hosts to ensure everyone who was in the homes was happy with the scheme going ahead.

Visa

While the team didn’t do matching, it did help with the visa process, which was slightly difficult which different systems being in place depending on whether the host or the guests began that process.

Alex said: ‘We were advising hosts on the safe side of that, whether they come through the Isle of Man or through the UK and of course before we could go ahead with that, we’d need the VWS number, which was the number that said the visa was issued. It was only once that was issued that we initiated the DEFA check, that was simply a matter of resources.’

On-Island

Once the Ukrainian guests got to the island, Alex and her team worked to ensure they can access everything they need to settle.

She said: ‘That’s when really all the work starts because the aim then is to settle the guest into the host home, so we need to be supporting the host and supporting the guest.

‘There is a lot of paperwork for the guest to complete, certainly just go get them up and running. The first part of that was benefits, a lot of these people are coming to the island without a penny, all the money they have had was spent waiting to come here and getting here.

‘So we will go with them to the benefits office, along with the host and we will support them with the completion of all that paperwork. There is a number of different benefits available and that depends on the person and their individual circumstances.’

The most commonly applied benefit to Ukrainians when they come to the island is job seeker’s allowance.

Alex said: ‘There is no great push or expectation for them to run out and get a job, we have to understand the trauma that they’re suffering. The main aim is to ensure that people have money in their pockets to just help them feel human again and to go get them basics, toiletries, underwear, whatever gives them that extra little bit of comfort.’

Signposting

The next role of the team is often signposting people to where they can access a doctor, and working out what school their children would go to.

Alex said: ‘I don’t think we should be rushing to get the children into school. We need to give them time to breathe and give them a little bit of space.’

Her team’s role in this is to support that decision, liaise with the Education Department and discuss that with the hosts.

She added: ‘We’re not doing assessments on children as to what school is best or where a child might be best placed. However, the schools have set up English and additional language assessments, which is a really good support network. 

‘The aim of that is that we don’t know who the children are, we don’t know if they have disabilities or what level of education they have been at, so the team does these assessments before them going into school, so this just lets them know what level of support these children will need within that school. 

‘It’s a very small team at present, but they’re doing a marvellous job at getting to visit all these children, so that’s a work in progress really.’

What Next?

The initial minimum commitment at the start of the scheme was for hosts to agree to have their Ukrainian guests for at least six months.

With that time now approaching, the question of what next has naturally arisen, something that both hosts and their guests are wanting to know, what happens next?

Alex said: ‘All of this is in discussion and we don’t have a full plan yet, but we are in discussions with hosts and guests about what their future plans are, what are their wishes.

‘Some of the hosts who committed to six months have said they’re keen to go on and are looking at situations where rentals can be agreed, which would be ideal.

‘There are a lot of options available, we just don’t have a plan down on paper as such.’

For Alex and her team, the scheme is something they are proud to have been involved in.

She said: ‘This has turned into a massive supporting role, for both guests and hosts, so I see this as a real big support. It’s a very emotional role, it’s an emotional rollercoaster, and you actually get involved with some of the guests and their stories. 

‘I’ve met so many people, so many Ukrainian guests, who are just the most amazing people, who have such heartbreaking stories and yet the strength that they show, to be able to come here, to this little small island, they are so welcomed and the first thing they wanted to do, which may go against some people’s views, was to get out and make a life for them and their families and to be able to have that level of thinking with all [that’s going on]. I couldn’t put myself in that train of thought.

‘It’s been great, it’s definitely an emotional rollercoaster for all our staff, we’ve experienced so many things, but it’s one of the best projects that I’ve ever been involved with, it means so much, it really does and I think the island should be applauded for what they’ve done, the response has just been amazing.’