At band practice last night, we were totally unsurprised to find that our bassist and his wife have also signed up to host Ukrainian refugees. Like us they're "New Labour" types who have done very well professionally and look for ways to pay it back/forward. His wife has always worked in the children's charity sector and has good contacts among the refugee charities.
A number of friends and acquaintances in a 5 km radius have also signed up and a number of them have relevant experience in volunteering, fostering and safeguarding. A Zoom call has been set up for Thursday morning so that we can coordinate efforts and see what can be done to create a local support network for any refugees we do end up hosting.
The thought of opening up our home to complete strangers for a year or more is a little disconcerting given how settled our lives have become. Some controlled chaos like this is rather exciting and I hope that we're chosen as hosts. Apart from its comparative remoteness (the nearest village is 1.5km away, the nearest town 6km away, the nearest city 35km away) and poor internet connection (~7-8 Mbps), Don Towers is pretty ideal place with plenty of room. We can offer one ensuite room and two more double bedrooms with a shared, family, bathroom and over 100 square metres of lounge/kitchen/dining space. We could also convert the gym into a study/play space if needed and although our garden is tiny by local standards, it's still well over 500 square metres.
