The Ukrainian children now living in Cornwall and attending local schools
More than 1,000 families from the war-torn country are now living in the Duchy thanks to generous hosts
Last updated 8th Jul 2022
More than 1,000 families from war torn Ukraine are now living in Cornwall thanks to generous host families with Ukrainian children settling into Cornish schools. After the Government invited people to offer their homes to displaced Ukrainians some of the highest numbers were in Cornwall.
Sitting in a classroom at Penrice Academy Chris Gardner, from Helping Children of Ukraine CIC, explained how he had been working with organisations across Cornwall to help ensure that Ukrainians coming here are made to feel at home.
Chris, whose wife and stepdaughter are Ukrainian, said that he had never done any form of charitable work before this year having previously worked in hospitality, but said that it has been some of the most challenging and rewarding work he has done.
“I have been involved since the first week of the war, collecting supplies and money and sending them out to Ukraine. We set up a pipeline into Ukraine itself and that has continued in the background to what we are doing here.”
Whilst the supply of goods and support into Ukraine has now been taken over by agencies since Chris initially got involved he has now switched his attention to helping those Ukrainians now located in Cornwall.
“Within a week of the Government announcement of Homes for Ukraine we set up a community interest company with others here in Cornwall to help children and families who were coming here. We wanted to give them practical assistance and support and we set up some partnerships here, particularly with Cornwall Neighbourhoods 4 Change (CN4C).
“The idea is that we provide that practical support that they might need when they come here, whether that is clothes, food or money.”
The support provided by Chris and others starts before Ukrainians arrive in Cornwall with links being set up between the refugees and host families here. Video calls are held to form links before they even arrive.
“That has been really, really successful, we haven’t had one failure yet. We also help to transport people here from wherever they might have ended up, that could be Ukraine, Poland, Istanbul, anywhere.
“We then work together with schools to ensure that when children arrive they will have somewhere to go really quickly. I have to say that Penrice and the primary schools have been really, really good in helping us to do that. Within a couple of days of their arrival the children have had a tour of the school and within a week they have started.”
Children arriving at Penrice are partnered with a student who they can shadow on their initial arrival and they are given support by all staff and students.
Chris said: “Whenever I ask the children about school they always respond with a big smile – they have found it so good to be able to come to school. School here is a lot different to what they are used to in Ukraine, but they say they prefer it here.”
Penrice is currently seeking to recruit a teaching assistant who can speak Ukrainian to help provide support to the students and particularly in terms of their wellbeing.
“Children are very, very resilient, however we are starting to see through the process we are starting to see some trauma. That can be for many different reasons, not many of them have been in a combat zone but they don’t know what is happening to their fathers, or they are separated from grandparents and friends – that is difficult.
“Having a teaching assistant who can speak Ukrainian could be really helpful and important. You can teach children to speak English and can teach them the basics, but you don’t get the deep understanding unless you have somebody who can speak their language and pick up on the nuances.”
Chris and his group is also looking to provide training in trauma to those hosting families as well as for school staff to ensure that support can be provided to people where needed.
As well as helping school age children Chris says that families will also get help to access further education if needed and are also given support to access work or benefits. In addition CN4C has been hosting community events for the Ukrainians to gather together and with local people.
Community lunches have been held with the Ukrainians cooking lunch together and sharing folk songs. A large community event for Ukrainians is planned for this Saturday at St Austell Rugby Club to bring together the refugees and the community.
Chris said that all those who have come to Cornwall see it as their temporary home and all want to return to Ukraine once it is safe to do so.
“The generosity of people has been absolutely incredible. The hosts are the ones who have taken on the most, some of them have been finding it difficult but they are soldiering on. They are an extraordinary group of people to open their homes up so generously.
“There are many organisations throughout Cornwall which are offering help and support for these people and ensuring that they feel welcome here. They are all working together and that has been so important, whether that is CN4C or Cornwall Council, or the schools, all have been working incredibly hard to make this work.”
However, Chris said he was concerned that there was not enough being done to plan more long term for the support that will be needed for Ukrainians who have come to the UK. He said that whilst visas have been provided for up to three years funding for hosts was only in place for a year.
He said: “Here in Cornwall there is not the accommodation available for people – the last thing we want to do is uproot people, particularly children, when they have become settled in an area and in a school. There needs to be more done to work out what happens after a year as we don’t know what is going to happen in Ukraine.”
For Chris and his family it has been difficult to see what has been happening in Ukraine. Chris said that he spent two years in the country and has seen places he remembers visiting being destroyed.
However he admitted that it was even harder for his wife and stepdaughter who have relatives in the country and said that it had been “heartbreaking” for them to see the images on the news.
“It is never easy as there is a familiarity about the locations that we see being affected, I get it but not to the extent that my wife does.”
And he said that whilst a large number of people have already been helped there was a need for more host families. “We still need hosts, there are more people needing help every day and if anybody can help we really appreciate it.”