Appeal to tackle Homes for Ukraine decline
BBCA search is under way to find more hosts in north Worcestershire for refugees from the war in Ukraine.
Redditch currently supports 66 adults and children, with another 85 in Bromsgrove, but the number of hosts has been falling.
Kateryna Kriachko, 22, who fled Kyiv and now lives with Joan Forrest in Bromsgrove, said: "We're not scary people, we're good, we're very polite, we just need some safe space."
As part of the council-run campaign, refugees have been explaining what it means to them to have sanctuary in the UK since war broke out in 2022. Ms Kriachko said: "It's not peaceful to stay in Ukraine because of what's going on every day and night. Everybody deserves a safe sky above their heads."
She came over to Worcestershire in July last year, and Ms Forrest said signing up to take in a refugee had been "quite a spontaneous thing".
Ms Forrest said she felt it was something she could do and reasoned: "I've got a spare room and I'm not using it at the moment."
At first she said the age gap between them was a concern for her, but the council team was able to reassure her.
The pair has since struck up a friendship, and she was even able to persuade Ms Kriachko to appear in their local pantomime last month.
Ms Kriachko said: "We are very good company to each other, and I feel like [I have] a person who I can trust here, who can listen to me in case I need it."
"I don't feel lonely here, and it's a very, very good thing to have in a new country."
Tetiana Ponomar came to the UK from Ukraine in 2022, and after finding a host in Worcestershire, she agreed to help out as a support worker for the scheme.
The mother-of-two said that while many countries had taken in Ukrainian refugees, the UK was different in the way it provided them with homes.
"Britain offers us homes with people so we can share our culture, share our cuisine, and live with someone with a different culture, and it's just an amazing experience," she said.
She added: "[In Ukraine] there is no normal life. Ukrainians, we don't have a choice, but British people, they have a choice, and I really, really appreciate the choice you're making now and all your support."
The host recruitment campaign, called "What it means to me", has been launched by Bromsgrove District Council and Redditch Borough Council.
It aims to highlight the positive effect hosting can have, with current hosts and guests telling their own personal stories.
It also focused on the coming together of cultures, with people from Worcestershire learning what a Ukrainian Christmas looks like, for instance.
Since the start of the war nearly three years ago, 114 homes in Bromsgrove and Redditch have been opened up to Ukrainians, but the councils said the numbers had "dwindled", and they were looking for between 10 and 20 more in each local authority area.
People signing up to be part of the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme are asked to offer places for a minimum of six months and are given a thank-you payment of £350 a month in the first six months, rising to £600 thereafter.
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