County welcoming over 1,000 refugees

Worcestershire is set to welcome over 1,000 refugees from Ukraine but is planning to receive more than double that.

The latest figures show that 1,035 people fleeing the war in Ukraine will be welcomed to 430 homes across Worcestershire.

Worcestershire County Council said more than 2,400 people had expressed an interest in hosting Ukrainian families in their homes and preparations are being made with those numbers in mind.

Of the Ukrainians set to be homed in Worcestershire, almost three-quarters of refugees will settle in the south of the county including 156 in Worcester.

As many as 337 refugees are expected to be homed across the Wychavon district, which includes Evesham and Pershore, and 273 people will be housed in the Malvern Hills District.

According to the latest figures, the number of Ukrainian refugees settling in Worcester increased slightly from 149 in May with the number of host homes in the city rising by just one.

The number of refugees being welcomed in Malvern Hills and Wychavon increased by more – rising from 272 to 337 and 236 to 273 in the respective areas.

The number of host properties increased in Wychavon from 115 to 136 in the month and increased from 94 to 108 across Malvern Hills during the same time.

A report, which will be discussed by the county council’s children and families overview and scrutiny panel, said 56 children from Ukraine had so far been accepted into primary and secondary schools across Worcester.

As many as 115 Ukrainian children have been given places in schools across Malvern Hills and 110 children will attend school across Wychavon,

The government said it will be providing £3,000 per year for Ukrainian children aged between two and four to attend nursery with £6,580 provided for each child aged between five and 11 in primary school and £8,755 for Ukrainian children and young people aged between 11 and 18.

In March, the council said there were around 130 families in the county with Ukrainian links that may need support through the government’s Ukraine Family Scheme.

Ukrainian refugees with no ties to the UK are also being welcomed by the ‘uncapped’ Local Sponsorship Scheme