The added cost of housing a refugee family

Poland has welcomed over 1 million refugees, and welcome is the word for what they have done, taking them into their homes, feeding and clothing them. I think we should try t do the same/ Most of the refugees coming to Britain, already have family to go to. so there will not be so many unattached refugees and most will be women with children.

Thinking about our own problems with people in the house. Think about what it is like for them!

Don’t you need a DBS check to host a refugee? This will take time and many people will find it intrusive. I totally get why we don’t want predators taking in refugees and particularly children, but I wish a bit of common sense and judgement could be applied. Perhaps would-be hosts could be interviewed instead? I’ve never been convinced of the efficacy of DBS checks.

I was just horrified to see a BBC report where child traffickers are taking orphans and unaccompanied children at the border, some posing as helpers.

Where's there's a crisis there's a criminal taking advantage of the situation.

It TURNS MY STOMACH to read this Callistemon. I havent seen the BBC report and i don't want to either, i read your post and i had no words apart from please, please no.

I wish in a way I hadnt read it but I wanted to drive there and gather them all up.

yes all this is bound to happen unfortunately

I know many people who are driving from Germany to Poland picking up complete strangers to bring back to their own homes. No doubt the same has been happening in other countries. I am embarrassed so little is being done by us, by our government.

Refugees are just like us, 3 weeks ago they were living their lives pretty much as we are doing now. The same hopes and dreams, the same joys and sorrows. Now, all they have is a small bag with a few items, everything else left in their homes which they may never see again. They have lost everything.

Just imagine if you can that was you, your family, your children or grandchildren, how might you feel?

Callistemon21

I was just horrified to see a BBC report where child traffickers are taking orphans and unaccompanied children at the border, some posing as helpers.

Where's there's a crisis there's a criminal taking advantage of the situation.

German police have been warning refugees. Obviously germans in cars going to poland, romania etc. It will be evil women as well as men.

Taking someone into your home is a tremendous commitment and not one to be taken lightly, so I’m very encouraged by this thread.

As someone who can speak from direct experience I would urge anyone to think twice before taking in a stranger, and especially one from another country/culture. Not because we’ve had bad experiences, on the contrary, our lives have been hugely enriched by the people we’ve hosted, but initially it can take a huge amount of adjustment, flexibility, tolerance and patience. I think if a decision has been taken after careful consideration it much more likely to yield a successful outcome.

There is a pattern to taking in adult strangers that will be familiar to anyone who has taken in foster children; firstly there is a honeymoon period when everything is just dandy, this is followed by the ‘tunnel of conflict’ when the cracks begin to show (different expectations, small irritations, frustration etc.) and then, if the relationship survives that period, there is the ‘reality’ of day to day life when your home becomes truly also theirs and ‘family’ life finds its rhythm again.

Our family has expanded to include many of those we’ve taken in over the years; my newest ‘grandchild’, born in January is of Muslim Afghan parentage. Our ‘family’ of strangers has brought us tremendous joy, but more to the point of this thread, we haven’t added to the pain and distress of a displaced person through placements breaking down.

The government are paying £350 a month to house refugees. Minimum 6 months commitment.

I have concerns for both sides. There is the horrible possibility of refugees being abused,especially as they are mainly women and childeren. From the point of view of those accepting people into their homes I did see a cautionary comment in the Guardian about the trauma refugees had experienced and both they and hosts would need access to specialist teams. If this wasnt in place it was likened to a Foster placement with absolutely no support whatsoever-which is scary.
Help is indeed essential. A nominal sum seems to be available and from what I have read refugees will be allowed to claim benefits and work( a cynical part of me views the government as seeing this as a possible solution to the jobs that have remained unfilled in care and hospitality).
I hope against all hope it will be properly organised and monitored but with the reduction in all the services needed to support people since austerity I do wonder how this will happen

I thought about it but know I would feel trapped after a few weeks, I’ve got used to being alone and my routine etc, it’s selfish I know, so decided for me it’s financial aid I will give.
It is heartwarming how very poor people in neighbouring countries take them under their warm embrace and welcome them like family. The cost of housing a whole family for 6 months would be high. Could op afford doing it with no reimbursement and can they cope with no private space. Above everything that family has to be made really welcomed, no doubt they are all suffering trauma.
How can anyone do that to lovely families. I hope tgey get Putin and is supporters soon.

I have read this morning that the government will give £350 a month to anyone who opens their home to refugees..

This is what i read.....

I also would like to host a family and I really can't .
Recently, I've tried to help a Romanian girl in whatever way I could .
Disappointed with my efforts she's stopped communicating with me .

If you are finding life a financial struggle now -please don't burden yourself with more problems .

Apart from the extra expense you soon find yourself feeling uncomfortable in your own house .

In the past ,I've allowed all sorts of people ,who are down on their luck to stay with me for six month periods .

At first, I've been described as an angel and how quickly they turned on me :

One began to treat me as her secretary and receptionist -snapping at snarling at me for not receiving and relaying messages .

She lost her temper when I invited a friend for dinner .

She had a huge party without asking me .

Have written that I would still help a Ukrainian family if I were able to do so .

I was very willing to offer a temporary home to anyone coming from Ukraine - until DH pointed out how often we go away and the lengths of times we are away.

I looked at our calendar and realised that between now and the end of July we will be away nine times - anything from 4 days to 10 days. Visiting AC and family for long weekends and going to our house in France.

I will try to see if there are other now realise that offering a temporary home in our house, just is not practical.

I live on my own. I have 2 spare bedrooms and am considering offering to host a mother and child, if needed.

We have offered to host. We live in a big house. We have 5 sons, all away from home now, but we are used to coping with a big group and we have frequent visitors. We will be going away a couple of times but would be happy to leave our guests to it. We are both fairly laid back.

There must be many people in the UK who have second homes here and abroad which could be offered as accommodation for a refugee family?

There are several in my village and surrounding areas. It will be interesting to see whether any of them are used in this way.

I thought someone had a plan to requisition the mansions of Russian oligarchs to house Ukrainian refugees.

So far, our town has several Afghan refugee families living in the community.

I think you can offer and wait to be inspected and matched with refugees. It sounds slow and cumbersome but it's great that so many want to help.

OH and I are discussing it, we have a separate small apartment with it's own cooking facilities and bathroom that we could offer. However, we are pretty rural without public transport and the nearest city with the sort of facilities that people would need is 10 miles away. I think it is doable if there is a small community of people offering accommodation so that refugees are not completely isolated. I am hoping that the local church might act as a hub. We don't need the £350 a month and would want it to be used to give additional help. It's early days but we are talking about the difficulties etc and it won't be an easy decision to make.

My parents are thinking of letting a family live in their annexe too. I was quite surprised tbh! but I suppose in cases where there is separate accommodation it might work well?

Callistemon21

I was just horrified to see a BBC report where child traffickers are taking orphans and unaccompanied children at the border, some posing as helpers.

Where's there's a crisis there's a criminal taking advantage of the situation.

We have all been critical of our government of the time it seems to be taking to get organised but perhaps in the long run it will be better for those poor people to be linked up with ‘safe hosts’.
One could argue that fewer refugees may have been trafficked but the truth is that these despicable monsters will always find a way to get at their victims.

We can’t house anyone but we can help towards the costs and care of refugees in our community. I have informed our local vicar to count us in.

There are kids in England who no body wants to foster, whose emotional and behavioural needs are already documented. If an unknown family is coming from abroad, goodness knows what emotional or behavioural problems the kids may have. Kids act out and we are talking about traumatised kids who are going to have seen atrocities.

The government need to be putting proper help and support in place for them. I have friends who foster- and yes the local authority receives a certain amount in their budget for each child in care, but do you think it's easy to persuade them to release any of that to pay for the kids needs to be met? I know foster parents who despair at the lack of support from the Local Authority. If you are a Sponsor I think you would really struggle in the same way, and end up paying yourself for things that should have been funded.

This isn't just financial. There are a lot of potential implications. Is there going to be free counselling for those who kindly share their abode and struggle? I still feel that £350 - little more than ten pounds a day, does not go far to meet the needs of a family.

We can’t house anyone but we can help towards the costs and care of refugees in our community. I have informed our local vicar to count us in.
We couldn't either for various reasons, but that's a good idea, offering help locally and you know the aid is going exactly where it's needed, PamelaJ1