The following information is aimed at families welcoming Ukrainian refugees in Farnham.
Two community groups have been coordinating families that are sponsoring Ukrainian visitors in addition to family members and other individuals who have registered on the government scheme. These are:
Farnham Homes For Ukraine
Farnham Homes For Ukraine is supporting over 157 sponsor families and welcoming over 200 people from Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Farnham Stands with Ukraine
Farnham Stands with Ukraine has over 50 sponsors with 11 matched families welcoming over 30 Ukrainians.
Do you have a property or space to rent?
With the conflict continuing, some Ukrainian families are moving into their own accommodation. Whilst Waverley Borough Council is providing help to Ukrainian families with finding accommodation, suitable places to stay are in short supply so new offers of accommodation are being sought.
If you would like to continue to support the Ukrainian community and have a property or space you could rent out to Ukrainian families, please register your details.
Links to useful information
Lots of useful information can be found on the government’s website including a welcome guide for Ukrainians arriving in the UK.
Information on applying for school places for parents and carers of Ukrainian children.
Surrey County Council (with links to Russian and Ukrainian translations)
Surrey County Council’s Here to Help flyer in:
How to welcome Ukrainian refugees
Farnham Town Council is also hosting an implementation group supporting the work of community groups, churches and other community organisations.
The Town Council wishes to ensure all visitors from Ukraine are supported and included in social and other events. If you would like to be contacted please contact us at customer.services@farnham.gov.uk
Other ways to help
For those wishing to donate funds, global charities operating in the UK and Ukraine are appealing for donations to offer aid in the humanitarian crisis.
These include:
The British Red Cross, which has launched an appeal to help the Ukrainian Red Cross to provide food, medicine, clothing and shelter, as well as first aid training in bomb shelters and, 15,000 litres of drinking water to villages in eastern Ukraine.
The UNHCR refugee agency, which is funding emergency shelters, repairs for homes damaged by shelling, emergency cash assistance, psychological support and warm clothing Unicef, the UN’s children’s charity, which is helping to ensure families have clean water and food and that child health and protection services continue.
Save the Children, which is providing cash assistance, food and other support to refugees crossing into Romanian and Lithuania, as well as in Ukraine itself.
The Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella group for 15 of the UK’s leading aid charities, is also running an appeal, donations to which will be doubled by the government up to a total of £20m.
Please ensure you ‘give safely’ by donating to registered charities so that you can be assured that your money is being used as it should. More information on this can be found on The Charity Commission’s website.
