The situation in Ukraine is deteriorating very quickly. Families – mainly women and children - are fleeing to the border, seeking refuge and escape from the incessant shelling by the advancing Russian forces. They just want to protect their children despite having to leave husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers. In Ukraine food is becoming scarce and living conditions unbearable and unsustainable.

When these brave refugees reach the border, exhausted and desperate for help, they face yet another hurdle - the UK Visa process. It is complex and time consuming - so much so, taking over five hours even for the most educated of people who also happen to have the necessary documents in the required language. Most are not prepared to try despite the fact that they speak good English and are professionally qualified because the UK process is considered impossible to navigate and somewhat of a token gesture. Meanwhile, others are sleeping on the floors of school halls and train stations in Germany and Poland hoping that they can either return home or find a suitable host family but probably not in the UK given the challenges…

The UK process is time consuming and unnecessarily complicated – adding stress and anxiety to people, and especially children, who have already seen and experienced too much. It is even more stressful for Ukrainian applicants as the first thing that faces them is a choice of languages that default to Russian! Even those with confirmed sponsor families in the UK are stuck in the process waiting for their applications to be approved well over a week after starting the process.

Some Ukrainians do not have a biometric passport, so they face further administrative delays. Young children are frequently on parental passports so need an appointment purely for a digital photo at one of the limited numbers of UK Visa Application Centres. The application process does not currently allow for families to apply together, every family member is a separate 5-hour process. How is this supposed to happen when you are attempting to travel to safety and have likely left your entire worldly possessions behind - not least your laptop/PC..?

To those who have donated so far – THANK YOU! Your money has already helped families to safety and supported them with food and comfortable accommodation while this lengthy and nightmarish process happens. We simply cannot thank you all enough! They will not sleep on station floors and they will not face the risk of people traffickers and those wishing to exploit the children and the vulnerable.

You can see from the pictures that Rob and Ken have already made one successful trip to the Polish border – bringing three families (mothers and children) to safety while they wait for the onerous process to finally allow them to join their UK sponsor families.

But we cannot sit by and wait. We need to scale our efforts and do more.

We currently have 27 known UK host families (and rising..) within our own networks who will support Ukrainian refugees and are committed to providing safe homes, community support, language lessons etc.

Further kind donations are desperately needed to help us scale our operation as others need help and support. We work only through long established UK/Ukrainian societies who are contacted on an hourly basis by those needing refuge. These societies provide a vital link for us.

Your donations provide essential funds that are used for food, transport, fuel, accommodation, train fares and flights plus the necessary volunteers who support the families and ensure their safety.

Help us do more for those who need it most….