So much has happened across North Wales and the flow of Ukrainians has become relatively rapid! A number of other communities have been in touch with us and are really excited to be getting ready and are starting to welcome their Ukrainian guests. It's actually really exciting to hear of the range of communities receiving their guests, from some of the most rural and mountainous communities, to those on the coast and across all of our 6 Counties.
In Conwy, we received our free Vodafone SIMs and they are being offered at the same time as collecting the settling in grants. Colwyn Bay Library is doing biometrics, local wellness hubs are in the planning along with BCUHB Hubs, for medical screening and a range of wrap around care opportunities. We will be with Conwy County and our specific role will be to see how we can support our Ukrainian friends to harness their own experiences, skills, and interests to support their community here and to share with us, to enhance our communities and life together. This will also enable us to follow the progress of many of our families and support, as necessary.
Six clear concerns are emerging as time moves on:
The need to support hosts with some training and opportunities to share experiences - sharing your home brings real challenges but being able to think these through ahead of time or share later with other hosts is hugely helpful. We are gathering resources together for this and are considering how we could provide a face-face opportunity for hosts to meet together for some training, reflection and sharing. I have gathered some resources together and the Sanctuary e-learning course and Webinar from 11 May are really useful https://www.link-international.org/preparation-for-hosts. There is also a training package being prepared and piloted.
The need for secondary placements for Ukrainians in host homes - for those really struggling, the Counties are now receiving information from the registration on the Homes For Ukraine scheme, for those who have not been matched. They are asking if such unmatched hosts would be prepared to be secondary placement hosts - the feedback from this in the early stages is really positive. This also means that those who are in Welcome Centres and wish to move to a host home will be able to do so more easily.
Human Trafficking - we are hearing disturbing reports about this and the use of Holyhead as an entry point - Ali's ppt is on the Resources page from our last Webinar and I would encourage you to keep this in mind and be aware of the 'red flags' and report anything that concerns you. The safety of the women and children is of the highest priority.
Personal safeguarding - raising the safeguarding awareness of all who are involved in our communities is of paramount importance and just doing the short e-learning course is part of this process of keeping everyone safe https://www.link-international.org/safeguarding-elearning
TB Screening - this is not mandatory; however, it is important for children going to Secondary Schools and the WG advice/instruction is that before going to school, secondary children should be screened. This seems to be causing some delays, but the Counties are now addressing this to speed up the process. Primary school children are able to go to school and then be screened later.
Public Transport - we have had reports, which we have made into official complaints, about several incidents where bus drivers have not accepted documentation, do not know the rules, or have been offensive. We have other reports of the free transport being used and with only wonderful experiences. We have discussed with WG about Travel Passes - there are significant logistical challenges with making this happen, but the officers responsible are looking at options and seeing if there is a better solution. However, we have had some progress this week and we need to get this leaflet out to all Ukrainians:
The video recording of the last Webinar and the ppt resources are now available
Finally, all our 6 counties are now providing first point of contacts for the Ukraine Response and any concerns or uncertainties in your counties can be referred directly to your point of contact. I have put this information here https://www.link-international.org/local-authority-contact