Some 53,000 Ukrainian refugees have come to the UK - so how has it been working out?
Tanya Sazanova and her daughter's hosts met them at the airport with a Ukrainian flag
"So people are ending up at the doors of local authorities needing homeless accommodation," Kate adds.Under the sponsorship scheme, hosts are entitled to a monthly £350 tax free payment - but people hosting family members are not."It's been the hardest time of our lives," says Natalia Korchevska, a Ukrainian woman in the UK who has opened her home to relatives fleeing the war.
Natalia, who works for the NHS, explains that a change allowing people who have travelled on a family visa to switch to the sponsorship scheme would really help. "I'm frustrated and not happy, but it's my family so I will support them."While many relationships between hosts and refugees are positive, some Ukrainians have ended up needing homeless accommodation as a result of relationships breaking down.
"The hosts are doing a great thing by providing shelter, warmth, food and a listening ear, but they can't be 100% responsible." She reconnected with her daughter Sonya and they travelled to Poland where she volunteered to help refugees - before applying to come to the UK through the sponsorship scheme.
Anastasia Salnikova says it is getting more "difficult" for those wanting to come to the UK to find sponsors. Oleg, a former Ukrainian MP, and his wife Irina were visiting their children in the UK when Russia invaded Ukraine, and have been living with one daughter in Surrey under a family visa.
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