Welfare and Support

As part of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, the council has a duty of care to ensure both guests and hosts are supported with their wellbeing during placements.

We will carry out welfare visits soon after arrival to check that everything is ok, and again after three months. Further visits will be carried out until guests or hosts withdraw from the scheme.

The welfare visits are an opportunity for the guests and hosts to speak to our welfare officer separately or together and discuss how they are, and talk about the placement. If there are concerns, we provide advice and support and will liaise with other professional agencies to ensure that the guest and hosts receive support tailored to their needs.

We also discuss employment, education, language and transport needs, financial stability and social interactions. This gives us an overall understanding of the guests wellbeing and may lead to engaging with other agencies that can further assist and support the guest and allow them to fulfil their potential.

In addition to this, if guests or hosts are experiencing problems with their wellbeing, they can request a welfare visit - please email ukraine@westberks.gov.uk or call 01635 503579.

The Migration Team welcome your enquiries and will do their best to support you as much as they can.

Welfare and support provided externally

In addition to the welfare and support provided by the Migration Team, there is lots of external support.

Contact your GP if you have noticed the changes in the way you are thinking or feeling over the past few weeks or months that concern you or cause distress (for example: loss of appetite, feeling low or anxious, thinking negative thoughts about yourself, irritability, trouble sleeping, finding it hard to concentrate).

There are some videos about local mental health services available on the council's YouTube channel that might also be helpful.

The  Guide to Local Wellbeing Services [3MB]  includes organisations that can help, or check out the West Berkshire Directory for more support services.

If you need one-to-one support, you can self-refer using one of the links below:

• Ukrainian guests can get free counselling from a therapist: Therapists for Ukraine | It's Complicated
• Barnardo's offer access to a therapist/counsellor: Help for anyone fleeing the war in Ukraine | Helplines