Wigan man sets up Facebook group for hosts of Ukrainian refugees

Neil Adams created Wigan Homes for Ukraine for those who are interested or have opened their home, establishing a network where people can share experiences and either ask for or offer advice.

Neil, from Winstanley, said: “I have a long history working and volunteering in eastern Europe, so when everything started happening in Ukraine it felt quite close to home so I wanted to help.

"I started engaging with similar Facebook groups and realised there is nothing like that in Wigan and I decided to set one up after thinking there must be other people who want to host a family.

"There may be some people who aren’t in the position to host but still want to support people fleeing the war, so I wanted to try and connect people together.”

Neil created the group after struggling with the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, as he tries to bring a family of five to Wigan. They are currently staying with Neil’s friends in Belgium, due to the “complicated system.”

He said: "I spent hours on social media, speaking to various people, and eventually connected with a family who said they wanted to come to me, so I got the ball rolling.

"I thought it was going to be an efficient process but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

"The visa process is such a nightmare. I filled out all five applications and then you have to click an external link to upload the documents - well that didn’t work for three days.

"You can’t get in touch with the helpline, I’d spent a total of five hours on hold across two phone calls.

"I thought they were only going to be there a few days. A friend of mine took them to the visa place in Brussels, where after giving in all their information they were told there was no record of the applications.

"I was so frustrated. I spoke to a woman who was from the British Border Force that had flown in to try and help.

"She was really helpful and talked me through everything. I hope it doesn’t take much longer for them to get here."

As well as bringing hosts together, Neil hopes the group will unite refugees .

He added: "I hope it will create a forum for people who sympathise with what these people are going through.

"The lack of information has led for those in the scheme to basically help themselves.

"When they get here, if we can bring Ukrainians together then they can build new friendships, that would also be great.”

A Government spokesman said: “We continue to process visas for the Homes for Ukraine scheme as quickly as possible, but accept progress has not been quick enough. The Home Office has made changes to visa processing – the application form has been streamlined, Ukrainian passport holders can now apply online and do their biometrics checks once in the UK, and greater resource has gone into the system.

“A UK visas and immigration helpline can provide information on eligibility and applications, and in cases of concern can escalate to teams who can look at the full case history and establish any issues.”