An Okehampton community interest company is calling out for more local families to open up their homes and support Ukrainian refugees as they continue to flee their country to escape war.

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February 2022, volunteers across Okehampton have worked tirelessly to support the refugees arriving in the town.

Many British families answered the call for host families to house Ukrainian refugees when the Government first announced its Homes for Ukraine scheme, which allowed Britons to sponsor a Ukrainian family for at least six months. But as media interest has waned and more and more British families reach the six-month sponsorship mark, Community Links is working to raise awareness of the continued need for people to offer a home or other support for refugees.

Beth Betambeau, a family support worker at Community Links, said: “We want to get the word out there that there’s support for Ukrainians in the town. The problem is as Ukrainians are making their lives here the support is dwindling a bit.”

Community Links received £10,000 from the British Red Cross at the start of the year to help it continue to support Ukrainian refugees.

Mrs Betambeau described the wide range of support services Community Links offers. “It’s involved a lot of things like helping families find somewhere to rent, getting emergency dentist appointments, helping them get jobs, transport and counselling because some of them have been through trauma, attending estate agent viewings with them, getting tenancy agreements simplified and translating.”

The funding ended last week and Community Links is now raising awareness of the continued need to support both settled and new refugee families coming into the area.

Mrs Betambeau, along with her family, sponsors a Ukrainian family and has said that the rewards of providing a home for refugees are enormous. She said: “My whole family have an understanding for different cultures and we are starting to learn languages. We can now sing “Happy Birthday” in Ukrainian. Whenever there’s a birthday we sing in English, Welsh, Ukrainian and occasionally French. We celebrated British Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian Christmas, Valentine’s Day, International Women’s Day, then Easter! We had so much fun learning about each other’s traditions and ways to celebrate, and our guest made us absolutely delicious meals! We even FaceTimed their family to have a “cheers” together on New Year’s Eve. We feel close to their family members and are now very much looking forward to a big gathering when we visit their hometown in Ukraine one day, when the war is over.” Host families can receive up to £500 a month as a “thank you” from the Government to help British families. Though not much, Mrs Betambeau pointed out that it was likely more than a family would receive if they rented out their spare bedroom and was set up to help host families cover the extra costs of supporting a larger household.

Community Links is currently supporting ten Ukrainian families in the area and is expecting another three families shortly.

To help local Ukrainian families join Facebook group ‘Okehampton Ukraine Support Group’ or to sponsor a Ukrainian family, visit www.homesforukraine.org.uk.