18th July 2024

Homes For Ukraine Lincolnshire e-newsletter

Welcome to the latest issue of our e-newsletter for Homes For Ukraine guests and hosts. This newsletter is sent out by Lincolnshire County Council's Homes For Ukraine team. You can email the team on homesforukraine@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

Hosts

Changes of guest circumstances

Please could we ask all hosts to keep the Homes For Ukraine team updated on any changes of guest circumstances.

For example, if your guests leave your house permanently, or if they leave your house for what's expected to be a temporary period, please let us know at homesforukraine@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

Knowing when guests have left a host household allows us to keep our records accurate and correctly administer the Homes For Ukraine scheme.

New hosts

Do you know anyone who might consider becoming a Homes For Ukraine host? The Homes For Ukraine team are always looking for new hosts, particularly in towns across Lincolnshire, who can house existing Ukrainian guests once their time with their original host comes to an end.

Hosts who pass the various eligibility checks can receive £350 a month for hosting Ukrainian guests (this goes up to £500 a month a year after the guest arrived in the UK).

If you know someone who is interested becoming a host please ask them to make contact with the Homes For Ukraine Team by email on homesforukraine@lincolnshire.gov.uk - there is no obligation to be a host but we can talk through all the aspects of becoming a host so people can decide if it is right for them.

Visas

eVisas

Most Homes For Ukraine guests will have a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). The BRP is a useful way of proving the right to work, the right to rent, the right to have access to public funds.

Most Homes For Ukraine guests will have a BRP with an expiry date of 31 December 2024. This is because the UK Government are replacing BRPs with online electronic "eVisas" from January 2025.

So from January 2025 people will have an online way of proving their immigration status, the right to work, to rent and so on. From January 2025 people will no longer be able to use the physical BRP cards.

Please note that the BRP expiry date of 31 December 2024 is the date that the BRP expires, it is NOT when the guest's Homes For Ukraine visa expires.

The BRP is just a way of proving your current immigration status and its associated rights - from January 2025 onwards this will be proved with an online eVisa instead.

The UK Government have produced a short video summarising eVisas (the video is in English but the YouTube subtitles can be switched to other languages).

At the moment you can only apply for an eVisa if you have received an invitation email from the UK Government - a few people are being invited to try the service out to test it. Over summer 2024 the UK Government will open up the process to allow anyone to apply for their eVisa. This will be an online process involving guests creating a UK Visas and Immigration account. We will provide further information as and when we receive it from central government.

Homes For Ukraine guests do not need to do anything yet and should not worry if they have not received an email from the UK Government inviting them to apply for an eVisa. All guests will be able to start applying for eVisas over the summer when the process is opened up to everyone. However we know that guests and hosts already have questions about this process and we just wanted to share everything we know at this stage.

Please also note that switching to an eVisa is about changing how you demonstrate your current right to be in the UK. There will be an entirely separate process for Homes For Ukraine guests to apply to extend the length of time they can stay in the UK. This extension scheme is still being worked on by the UK Government and will be called the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme.

Ukraine Permission Extension visas

The Ukraine Permission Extension scheme was announced by the UK Government a few months ago. It will be a way for Homes For Ukraine visa holders to extend their stay in the UK after their Homes For Ukraine visa expires.

Homes For Ukraine guests are expected to be able to apply for Ukraine Permission Extension scheme visas in the last three months before their Homes For Ukraine visa expires.

Please note that the Ukraine Permission Extension visa is expected to be a new visa. Despite its name it is not an extension to a Homes For Ukraine visa. So any guests applying for it would switch from holding a Homes For Ukraine visa to holding a Ukraine Permission Extension scheme visa.

The UK Government are still working on the details of the Ukraine Permission Extension visa. The latest information published by the UK Government is available here.

How to find out when your HFU visa expires

We know that many guests are concerned about when their current Homes For Ukraine visas expire, and the date that the visas run out is not always obvious. There is the additional confusion that Biometric Residence Permits expire on 31 December 2024 but this is not the date that the visa expires.

Guests may have been told the date their Homes For Ukraine visa expires in the correspondence they received from the UK Government when the visa was granted. Alternatively guests may have had their visa expiry date confirmed when they entered the UK. Or guests may simply never have been told the date their visa expires.

If you are a guest who is unsure of when your Homes For Ukraine visa expires the easiest way that we have found to confirm the dates is to use the government share code website that proves your right to work in the UK (you will need your BRP to do this):

Prove your right to work to an employer: Get a share code online - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Click on the green "Start now" button and select the "I have a biometric residence card or permit". Say "Yes" that you do have a biometric residence permit. Then input your BRP number and your date of birth.

You will then be shown a screen showing a date range when you are allowed to work in the UK. This date range corresponds to your Homes For Ukraine visa date range - so the last date is the date your Homes For Ukraine visa expires.

School Transport

How To Apply For Free School Transport

Free transport to school is available for some children in some circumstances.

Please do not assume that if you move house or move school that your child will start to receive free school transport (or continue receiving free transport if they already have it). The rules around free school transport are complex and the best way to find out if your child is eligible for free transport is to make an application for it.

More information about school transport, including how to apply, is on the Lincolnshire County Council website.

Finances

School uniform vouchers

Vouchers to buy school uniforms are available for Ukrainians who have just arrived in the UK and whose children ned to enrol in school. These vouchers are available within the first 6 months of the child's arrival in the UK. To find out more information please click here.

Learning to Speak English

STEP Ukraine

The STEP Ukraine programme is reopening for new students who can start in either September 2024 or November 2024.

STEP Ukraine is an intensive 12 week course that takes place online and teaches Ukrainians a mixture of English language and employment skills. Attendance is daily during Monday-Friday and there are various time slots to fit in around things like picking children up from school.

More information is available on the STEP Ukraine website.

Community Lab in Sleaford

In September 2024 the Community Lab in Sleaford will be launching a new 12 week course that is designed to help Ukrainians with their English language skills. This course will also focus on employment skills such as job applications and interviews.

More information is available on the Community Lab website.

Events

Lincoln Cathedral Peace Doves Display

Lincoln Cathedral is making a beautiful art installation of paper doves which will be suspended above the cathedral's nave. The doves will be on display between 5th September and 14th November.

Each dove will carry a message of peace, love and hope written on it. Members of the public are invited to come along and create their own dove.

More information is available on the Lincoln Cathedral website.

Boxes of Hope

Boxes of Hope have a number of different events and drop in sessions available every week in and around Holbeach.

British Red Cross

British Red Cross are undertaking a piece of work to assess how many people in the UK who have been displaced due to the armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, have faced family separation, have missing family and require assistance in restoring contact. The anonymous survey is available in Ukrainian, Russian and English. The more people that can be reached the more British Red Cross can ensure their services are meeting the need of those missing family members.

If you would like to fill in the anonymous form please click here.

Holiday Activities For Children

Holiday Activities and Food Programme

The Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) is a Government funded programme that provides free holiday clubs for children aged 5-16 in receipt of benefits-related free school meals in Lincolnshire over the school holidays.

Bookings for the summer holidays are now open, so please look at the website if you would like to book onto any of these activities. You will need an eVoucher provided by your school in order to book an activity.

Children Eat for Less

A range of supermarkets and restaurants aim to take the pressure off family meals during the summer holidays please see a list of local offers below:

Morrisons Café - Kids eat free all day every day with any adult meal purchased over £4.49 more info here.
Asda Café - Kids eat for £1 all day, every day at Asda Cafés, with no adult spend required.
Tesco Café - Kids eat free with any purchase of 60p or more by an adult in the café at Tesco. Clubcard/app required. Monday - Friday only (excludes weekends) more info here.
Sainsburys Café - One child hot meal or lunch bag for £1 with any adult main meal purchased over £5.20.
TGI Fridays - Kids eat free all day every day when 'Stripes Reward Members' purchase a full-priced adults main meal. If you're not a Rewards Member, book your table and then download the app before you visit.
Beefeater Grill - Two children get free breakfast with one paying adult. More info here.
Brewers Fayre - Up to two kids eat free unlimited breakfast with any adult breakfast purchased. More info here.
Hungry Horse - Kids eat for £1 when accompanied by a paying adult, ONLY available on Mondays at Hungry Horse. More info here.

To find out more and see other nationwide offers please click here.

Visit Lincolnshire

Visit Lincolnshire shows all events and places to visit across Lincolnshire. From rolling countryside with historic market towns and villages, to an award winning coastline and Britain's Best Small City.

To have a look at some of the events taking place across the county this summer please click here.

If you're looking for some inspiration of other things to do, take a look at the following posts:

Other Help

Ukrainian Community Groups in Lincolnshire

If you are looking to join a Ukrainian community group, visit the Ukraine support groups directory on 'Connect to Support'.

Cultural differences around politeness

The Reset charity have produced a series of short videos around how politeness differs between the UK and Ukraine. The videos are available to watch here.

Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice is a charity that offers free support and advice to residents. They can help with a range of issues including claiming universal credit and other benefits. Citizens Advice can provide home visits in rural areas and can attend community groups in Lincolnshire with translation support.

In Lincolnshire there is a dedicated helpline number and email address for Homes For Ukraine guests to use if you would like to ask for help - you can call 0344 847 6128 or email ukraine@citizensadvicesouthlincs.org.uk.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact Lincolnshire County Council's Homes For Ukraine team on homesforukraine@lincolnshire.gov.uk.