In a housing crisis, with rents soaring, almost nothing on the market and a distinct reluctance from landlords to take on tenants who claim universal credit and are refugees, we knew we had our work cut out. Then bingo! Another choir member and her husband, two of the founding members of Welcome Bureau, have saved the day. They came forward with the offer of a flat they own and rent out on the open market and have made it available to us from the end of August. This is a significant breakthrough and we can’t thank them enough for their generosity.

We will apply our now ‘road-tested’ model to this new set-up: Ukrainian refugees are entitled to housing allowance, which falls short of market value rent by some 40%. Welcome Bureau will fund this shortfall. Universal credit enables the refugees to meet their own living expenses, including utilities, although the charity has budgeted to help if costs for household bills escalate beyond their capacity to pay. We will offer our wrap around support in all practical and emotional aspects of refugee resettlement, including health, education and government interface. We applied for a place at Bristol Grammar School but unfortunately all bursary funds have been allocated for the year so the search is on, led by our Education Advisor, for a school place and we will report back in due course.

In other serendipitous, although bitter sweet, timing, my husband’s late parents’ flat has just sold and the family have donated the entire contents to Welcome Bureau so we are off to a flying start in terms of furnishing our second property.

The mother of our first family has volunteered to be more involved with the work of Welcome Bureau, both in terms of supporting our new family and also in fundraising for our cause. Her translation skills, together with her practical knowledge of the process of resettlement will be invaluable, for sure.