Happy Easter from the team and trustees at USPUK!
April 2024
In this Newsletter, we would like to thank you for your generous donations and support for our work, without which none of this would have been possible. Here is a brief update on our work over the last month - there have been several exciting new developments that we are looking forward to sharing with you!
New USPUK Website
We have launched our brand-new website that can be found here! Our aim was to create a fresh, user-friendly platform that showcases our mission, projects and impact.
The website includes ‘Get Help’ resources tailored to both Ukrainians and Afghans to facilitate their access to the support that they need, provided in Ukrainian, Pashto and Dari. We have included further information and links to additional resources provided by our growing network of partner organisations, who have expertise in topics such as legal aid, employability and language support. There is also a page where we share some of our success stories and any news relating to our work.
You can find out more about our projects, team and mission in the ‘About’ section of the website. If you would like to get in touch to find out more or get involved, you can contact any of our teams. We hope you enjoy browsing the website!
Update on Ukraine Visa Scheme
We also would like to make you aware of changes to the UK government’s visa schemes for Ukrainians. The Ukraine Family Scheme is now closed, so all new visa applications can only be made under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. Homes for Ukraine remains open for applications, but visas will be issued to Ukrainians for an 18-month period rather than a 3-year period. Sponsors are required to have British or Irish citizenship, settled status or indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Please familiarise yourselves with these changes if you or someone you know from Ukraine is considering applying for a visa to come to the UK.
More info can be found on our partners website Safe Passage Organisation which is providing legal advice to refugees from their clinic in Poland.
Ukrainian Sponsorship Project
USPUK continues to work on our Ukrainian Sponsorship Project to find sponsors and safe homes for Ukrainians fleeing the war. In recent weeks, increased Russian attacks have prompted more and more Ukrainians to take the difficult decision to leave their country in search of safety. Russia conducted the biggest missile attack of the war on March 22nd, with over 150 missiles and drones launched at Ukrainian cities over a single night. Homes continue to be destroyed, leaving families without a roof over their head. As we write this newsletter, the attacks continue, particularly in the eastern city of Kharkiv where almost all critical energy infrastructure has reportedly been destroyed and residents face constant blackouts and shortages of power, light and heat.
USPUK continues to hear from individuals and families looking for sponsors in the UK, but we receive only 1 sponsor application for every 10 potential guests who reach out to us. If you or anyone you know is interested in sponsoring, please contact us via the Become a Host on our website.
Afghan Resettlement Project
We're pleased to share that our engagement with Afghan community groups, organisations, and the broader cohort who have arrived in the UK over the past two years is expanding. Our Afghan project is thriving, and we're seeing a steady increase in support requests from various members of the cohort. In response, we've addressed 51 enquiries by offering sessions, sharing detailed information, and referring individuals to partner organisations, primarily focusing on employment support. Additionally, during this month of Ramadan, as our cohort observes this sacred time, we're committed to providing continued support and assistance. This month, we're also proud to announce one successful placement of a woman into a volunteering role that came from a mentoring program and led to employment.
Events and Opportunities
USPUK’s Afghan Team Lead, Anil Qasemi, spoke at the 2024 Refugee Summit at The Conduit on a panel entitled ‘Turning Responsibility into Opportunity: how refugee hiring can positively impact the private sector’. Anil talked about his personal journey as a refugee and shared some insights from USPUK’s 2023 survey of the Afghan refugee community in the UK. He discussed how initiatives like USPUK’s Afghan Resettlement Project are bridging the gap between refugee talent and employment opportunities. Other panels covered topics such as entrepreneurship, access to training and innovative solutions to foster collaboration to address the challenges facing refugees. It was a valuable opportunity to collaborate with like-minded organisations to work towards giving refugees in the UK a brighter future!
Anil has had a busy month - he also attended and spoke at a fundraising Iftar event for members of the Afghan community in the UK entitled ‘Fundraising Iftar for Afghanistan’s Children: Building a brighter future through education’. The event aimed to raise funds for the education of children in Afghanistan. Anil was invited to speak about USPUK’s refugee resettlement initiatives supporting Afghans in the UK and to provide insights into our progress so far!
USPUK also attended a special reception hosted by Facework Group to celebrate the success of their employability training programme for Ukrainian refugees in London, that has already supported over 120 individuals over the last year. Facework is now expanding their reach with the launch of Facework Futures, a new employability support scheme aimed at refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. We appreciated the opportunity to attend the launch event and express our shared commitment to empowering displaced people from diverse backgrounds to aid with resettlement, integration and access to opportunities in the UK.
We have a number of exciting events already planned for the next month - stay tuned!
Testimonies
We continue to receive updates from both guests and sponsors whom we have matched or assisted in the past. Lyudmila, who arrived to the UK just over a year ago with her two children, wrote to us to share hers:
“We are from Kharkiv, and now live in London. The war came to us very unexpectedly on February 24th 2022. It all started with loud explosions as Russian troops bombed Kharkiv. I was scared for myself and my young children, one of whom was less than two years old. We were living on the outskirts of the city, near the Russian border. It was impossible to sit in our apartment, so we and other families from our building moved to the basement to sleep, eat and keep warm. Every night a plane flew over our house dropping bombs on Kharkiv. No one could understand why they were doing it, why they came to our home, why they were destroying cities, and killing people.
We lived like this for almost two weeks, but it became clear that we could not stay. We practically never left the basement, the conditions became damp and unpleasant, there were fewer and fewer people and the children were in constant fear. We left Kharkiv for Poltava, in central Ukraine. On the day after we left, a Russian mine bomb fell near our apartment - the windows were blown out, the furniture was broken, metal fragments were left all around our apartment. It is hard to imagine what could have happened if there were children in the apartment at that moment. We lived in Poltava for some time - it was calmer there, but we were still worried constantly.”
That's when a ray of hope arrived in the form of an offer to relocate to the UK through the "Homes for Ukraine'' program with guidance and support from USPUK. "It was the best thing that happened to us in recent times!" Lyudmila told us, "Support at every step of the way, advice, help. We are so grateful to these wonderful people."
Now safe in the UK for the past year and living with sponsors Andrew and Lucy, (and their two small dogs!) Lyudmila and her family have slowly begun rebuilding their lives. Her 12-year-old son Yarik, an avid football player back in Ukraine, has benefited from opportunities at a special football academy for refugee children. Family also attended a match at Wembley Stadium, a dream come true for Yarik!
Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors in offering to host and the dedication of USPUK’s Ukrainian Sponsorship Project team, we have been able to offer families like Lyudmila’s a chance to find safety in the UK and rebuild lives disrupted and scarred by the war. We are proud of the impact our work has had and we will continue it for as long as people like Lyudmila are still in need of our help.
To learn more about USPUK's refugee assistance programs or to get involved, visit uspuk.org/news-and-stories. Each refugee has a story - and each of us has a part to play in helping them write a new chapter.
Thank you again for your generosity and support, and we hope you’ve had a happy Easter!
Best wishes,
The USPUK team (George, Tanya, Peter, Anil, Nasir and Anna) and trustees (Nick, Heather and Louise)