First Ukrainian refugees arrive in Portsmouth as part of church diocese project

Yelyzaveta Dovzhenko, 22, had originally booked a flight from Moldova but when it was cancelled at short notice, she had to think quickly.

In the end, she took a six-hour bus journey to an airport in Romania and flew from there to the UK instead.

On arriving to a host family, near Lee-on-the-Solent, she became one of the first Ukrainian refugees to be welcomed to the UK as part of a refugee scheme run by the Church of England’s Diocese of Portsmouth.

Yelyzaveta – now known as Liza for short – lived with her mother, father, sister, brother-in-law and niece, about 40km away from the Black Sea port of Odessa.

Her father and brother-in-law are required to stay in Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion, if needed.

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She was matched with Jane and Paul Cadman, who live near the beach in Hill Head with their son and son’s girlfriend in June.

Although they’ve not known each other long, they already feel part of each other’s families.

Jane said: ‘We’d seen the coverage of what was happening in Ukraine on the TV and had collected nappies, groceries and so on. But we have a three-bedroomed house and just thought we could offer a room as well.

‘We have five adult children. Our spare room is actually our daughter’s who is at university. She does come home sometimes, but she said she’d just sleep on the sofa bed. That shows how supportive the family have been.’

Jane and Liza originally met on a Zoom call organised by Citizens UK, who are partners with the Diocese of Portsmouth in the scheme to offer homes to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian bombardment.

Liza said: ‘What is happening in my country is sad, but everyone I have met here has been so friendly and so helpful.

‘Jane is such a kind person, and she has shown real hospitality by opening up her house to a stranger. That could be really scary, because you don’t know what someone will be like.’

More than 70 hosts from across the diocese – churchgoers and non-churchgoers – offered to welcome a total of 179 Ukrainian guests into their homes, as part of our diocesan scheme launched in April.

Some have now been matched with Ukrainian refugees either through the diocese's scheme with Citizens UK or through other programmes. The diocese still has more than 80 applicants waiting to be matched with hosts.

Canon Nick Ralph, head of mission and social transformation, said: ‘I’m delighted so many families who live in our diocese have felt able to offer accommodation to guests from Ukraine, and that several have now arrived and have taken up those offers.’

‘It’s been a long process to match hosts and guests, and to ensure that all the paperwork and admin is done in all cases. It’s taken a while because we wanted to do things properly in every case, ensuring that we match the right people together and that the right support is in place.’

If you can help to host Ukrainian refugees, find out more via www.portsmouth.anglican.org/ukraine.