Any advisers working with Ukrainian Refugees?

Hello,

I am not sure which forum is best to post in, so have plumped for this one.  I have been seconded to provide benefits advice for Ukrainians here in Derbyshire under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.  I am wondering if there is anyone else doing similar elsewhere to connect with?

Many Thanks

Sara

Good morning Sara,

I have been on a specialist project offering a helpline for Ukrainians and Sponsors since the early summer. I cover North Yorkshire and work closely with various organisations including the district and county councils, as well as various other support groups and refugee organisations.

I am more than happy to connect and share information, experiences and tips.

A colleague mentioned your post so I joined especially. :)

Adam

Late to the party. 

I have been funded until the end of March by Exeter City Council to provide benefit advice to anyone living within the council area.  That said Exeter has a Conversation Cafe for Ukrainians where I do a drop in session, so I often end up helping people in other areas of Devon.

I guess we are all getting similar issues? 

Definitely not late to the party Liz, I’ve only recently signed up here at the suggestion of my colleague.

I too attend drop in sessions around North Yorkshire. I cover the whole county for the HFU Helpline we run at Citizens Advice North Yorkshire. It is challenging, but also great because I have been able to build up a good rapport with clients, sponsors and support networks.

I grew up in Exeter…small world!

Hello, than you both for getting in touch, and sorry it is me who is late to the party!!  I thought I had ticked the box to be notified by email if someone replied to my post.

I will message you both now :)

Sara

Thank you for your message. I too am happy to share experiences and information where applicable. And of course if anyone else finds this thread, do say hello. I have email notifications on so will be informed of further replies.

Hi.

We’ve been working with the Homes from Ukraine team in York - and I was just about to send a message to NY CA when our Advice Services Manager pointed out Adam’s response. I’ll still get in touch directly but thought I’d respond here as it would be interesting to meet up if anyone would like a teams or Zoom call - in the new year maybe.

We’ve got a factsheet on our website about UC, aimed at those advising Resettled Ukrainians - and a factsheet on housing costs outlining different scenarios.

We’ve attended a couple of events with hosts and guests and interesting questions have arisen (eg. can they leave the Scheme and claim UC housing element instead; multiple households sharing a property - joint tenancy or non-deps). There’s also the impact on the work allowance when moving out of the host property into a tenancy - seems harsh and is difficult to explain the reasoning! Then the challenge of different CTR schemes once someone becomes a tenant (although not in a HMO property which will apply to many when they’re sharing property) - and so it goes on.

I can arrange a meet up if there’s interest - or Adam, we can speak directly.

Hi Liz,

Yes that all sounds very familiar! Do message me, a zoom call would be good.

Thanks

Sara