Appeal for more Ukrainian refugee host families

A town is looking for 10 new families to host Ukrainian refugees.

Crediton, in Devon, is already home to about 40 refugee families, including several from Ukraine.

Jennie Ford is the organiser of a conversation café in the town, which allows residents and refugees to catch-up and connect.

Ms Ford and the Ukrainian refugee living at her home have created a leaflet, which has been distributed to thousands of households, in a bid to attract more hosts.

Ms Ford said hosting was "much more straightforward than it was 18 months ago when we started this journey".

She said: "We want to remind people that people [from Ukraine] are still wanting to come and we hope our leaflet will help with that."

Michael Chevalier, a Crediton resident, said: "I got the leaflet through the door last Monday and within a week I'd found someone.

"I thought, I've got a room to spare and look at the state of the world, this is something I can do literally on my doorstep."

Nadiia and her mother left their hometown of Mariupol, Ukraine, at the beginning of April.

She said: "Our home is destroyed. Our city is destroyed. Our city is dead.

"We came here [Crediton] to start a new life ... so we will build it here."

Devon County Council has a dedicated webpage to help support hosts and refugees.

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