Ukrainian family safe at last having been rehomed by kind Telford couple

Olena Petriuchenko and her daughters Anastasiia Limarenko, 15 and Yelyzaveta Petriuchenko, just three, are spending their first Easter in the UK.

They have been given a new home in Ketley Grange by kind-hearted Pam Rogers and her husband David.

They arrived this week after finally being granted visas, but face separation from other family members and are getting used to life in a new country where the language barrier will be tough, as well as major tasks like setting up schooling and work.

Even small things like the task of getting a sim card for a new mobile phone and a bank account to access or deposit funds has proved difficult.

The family are from Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine and normally home to nearly 1.5m people.

It is also a city which is heavily under siege from Russian troops who are continually shelling and bombing it. They are separated from their father and Olena's husband Vitaly, who is part of the frontline resistance.

Olena's English is broken, with Anastasiia getting by with the language she has learned so far in school, but it will be a while before she can enrol in a school here, which she is desperate to do. They also need to find a nursery for Yelyzaveta.

Pam, 57, is a credit controller at Muller and David, 61, a production supervisor at Ricoh and live in a four-bedroomed-house in Ketley Grange.

She registered to sponsor a family on the Government website but was matched independently by Magdalena Benadda from Lawley, who is part of the Help Ukraine Telford Facebook group. The group has brought one other Ukrainian family to the Telford area, with 15 waiting for visas.

Pam spoke to the Shropshire Star this week about the difficulties her sponsor family are facing now they are in the UK but says she is just glad they are here.

She said: "The situation where they come from and in the wider Ukraine is unimaginable – we have all seen the pictures on television but to have lived through it and had to leave your home and loved ones behind is terrible.

"They lived on the fifth floor of an apartment block, the type you see on the television which the Russians are targeting. They have come here with nothing, and have to start from scratch.

"Olena worked in administration in the Ukraine but the family really have nothing in the way of savings because you earn very little there.

"She hopes to find work here, but there is the language barrier, and even setting up a bank account so they can get some sort of help through child support or benefits has proved difficult.

"A family friend paid for their flights from Poland as a company donation. The refugees are expected to pay for their own flights, but again most have little or no money.

"We collected them from Luton Airport, as we didn't feel it would be easy to access the public transport even though it is supposed to be free for them.

"The phone companies offering free sim cards with balances on them are non-existent. You are told to go to the branch, they know nothing about it, so you are referred back to calling, who again refers you back to the stores.

"I have now ordered sim cards from my own provider and we will pay for this for them."

She praised Telford & Wrekin Council though, saying: "Staff at the council contacted us as soon as they had notification that the visas had been applied for.

"They arranged a home check, DBS checks and Gas safe certificate. They have also offered assistance in finding schools for the children."

Pam said she and David had no second thoughts about giving up the comfort and spaced of their four bedroomed property to take in a Ukranian family.

She said: "We made the decision at the end of February almost as soon as the invasion started and we saw what was happening."

"Our children have moved out and we have the space so there was never any doubt in our mind that we were doing the right thing – the only worry maybe was whether we would all get on but they are lovely and we are enjoying having them with us."