Nottinghamshire County Council update

Thank you for volunteering to support a family as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which is why you are receiving this e-newsletter. We hope you find this useful, as we aim to bring you the most up-to-date information, tips, advice and latest government guidance all in one place.

You will also find a great deal of information on our Support for Ukraine webpage

Commemorating the life of Her Majesty The Queen

We are saddened to hear of the death of Her Majesty The Queen and would like to offer our sincerest condolences to the Royal Family.

If you wish to send a message of condolence, a selection of messages will be passed onto members of the Royal Family, and may be held in the Royal Archives for posterity.

Leave a message here

Thank you

September marks six months since the Homes for Ukraine Scheme was launched by the government in March 2022. In this time, Nottinghamshire has welcomed over 850 guests to the area. New processes have been set up to keep people safe and well, make programme payments and integrate new arrivals into the community.

The programme could not function without the hosts who have opened their homes and supported guests in a huge variety of ways.

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all hosts past and present for their support.

Ukrainian Cultural Centre Drop In

There will be no drop in session on Tuesday 20 September.

The next drop-in sessions will be 4:00pm - 7:00pm on Tuesday 4 October and Tuesday 18 October.

Local Communities Fund

Nottinghamshire County Council recognises the huge contribution that the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) has made to lives of residents over many years. A new discretionary grant funding scheme, The Local Communities Fund, is the successor to the Local Improvement Scheme.

Applications are invited from community organisations supporting people who have arrived in Nottinghamshire as part of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

An initial allocation of £100,000 has been approved by Nottinghamshire County Council to support proposals up to a maximum of £5,000 per application.

Examples of the kind activities that may be supported include:

Supporting English language classes
Employment support
Activities for Children and Young People
Advice and support on financial matters
Tackling loneliness and isolation through for example befriending schemes and support networks
Promoting health and well-being
Organising community events
Supporting and encouraging volunteering

You only need to register once, even if you decide to apply for multiple projects across more than one fund.

coins and a picture of the Ukrainian flag

Register & Apply

Bus passes for guests

We have issued hundreds of six month bus passes to guests providing free travel on buses across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As new guests arrive, we are processing more passes which will be sent out as soon as possible.

If there are any guests who have not received a pass, please email [email protected] with details of the guests and their arrival dates.

English language support in Ashfield and West Bridgford

Sessions are being held at Wightman Hall, Stratford Rd, West Bridgford NG2 6BA.They are free and there is no need to sign up, just come along;

Beginners 10:30am - 11:10am
Improvers 11:10am - 11:50am
Competent 11:50am - 12:30pm

There is also free tea, coffee, biscuits and often a table of clothes for people to help themselves. You are welcome to come just for a chat if you don’t want to attend the lessons.

У середу, 7 вересня, у Wightman Hall, Stratford Rd, West Bridgford NG2 6BA, уроків англійської мови немає. Вони знову розпочнуться в середу, 14 вересня. Вони безкоштовні, і не потрібно реєструватися, просто прийдіть і спробуйте їх. Початківці (10:30 - 11:10), Удосконалювачі (11:10.-11:50) і Компетентні (11:50-12:30). Є також безкоштовний чай, кава та печиво, а також часто столик з одягом для людей, щоб допомогти собі. Ви можете прийти просто побалакати, якщо ви не хочете відвідувати уроки.

ATTFE College have re-started their popular Language Café. The sessions will run until 13 October 2022. This is a drop-in offer for guests to meet in an informal setting to improve English language skills and get support accessing local services.

The sessions are held next to the Idlewells Shopping Centre – entrance from Portland Square.

English language support

Thank you payments to hosts

To help us get support to guests as soon as possible please remember to notify us once your guest has arrived by calling 0300 500 8080 option 5.

Once you have confirmed their arrival we’ll send a request for your bank details via a secure Nottinghamshire County Council email address.

The email will provide you with a safe link to provide your bank details. It is important that you respond to this as soon as possible so we can arrange your payments. Please do not provide your bank details via any other route.

You will also need to make sure that you complete the declaration form below.

Once these have been completed Nottinghamshire County Council will be able to make your payment as per the timetable below. Payments will be made in arrears into the bank account details provided.

If you have a guest move in with you at any time in September please make sure that you notify us by Friday 14 October.

The principles of the table below will be applied to each month so a host who has a guest move in with them anytime in August will be provided their thankyou payment at the end of September.

Date guest moved in with host	Date the host will be paid for their £350 (and pro rata amount)
1 Sept	31 Oct (payment will be for two months)
16 Sept	31 Oct (payment for the full month of Oct and 15 days in Sept)
30 Sept	31 Oct (payment for full month of Oct and one days in Sept)
1 October	30 Nov (payment for two months)

Declaration form