The Heartening Response of the Manx People

To mark just over six months since the gov launched the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, we speak to Minister for the Cabinet Office Kate Lord-Brennan, who was politically responsible for the scheme.

Since it was launched, over 100 Ukrainians have travelled to the island.

Of the 100, about 80 Ukrainians have come through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, with just over 20 coming through the family pathway.

Mrs Lord-Brennan said: ‘I think that part of the reason why people have been able to have the support from across government is because this has been led from the top, the policy was set at the early stage by the Council of Ministers really promptly after the Chief Minister made his announcements in response to Ukraine in March. Within days, the Ukraine Relief Committee was set up, which I chair, that had to pull together services from across government.

‘That was necessary because you’ve got a mix of people here, so roughly there are over 50 adults and over 25 children, so there is a mix of people in need here.’

The success of this scheme relied on the Manx public opening their homes to people fleeing war, without that and people committing to a minimum of six months as a host, it wouldn’t have been possible.

Mrs Lord-Brennan said: ‘I think that’s been striking and heartening that the Isle of Man community has responded in the way it has done, there is no way that the government could have done this by itself, it has absolutely relied on the community goodwill and support and we’ve learned through that as we’ve gone along, that’s why we’ve worked with third sector organisations on and off-island and I think broadly it’s gone well.’

See our full interview with Mrs Lord-Brennan, including the setting up of the scheme, the challenges its faced and the role of charities, such as Cafe Lingo, below.