Funding is to be made available to support Ukrainian refugees into work, after proposals gained the go ahead from a senior county councillor.
On Thursday (August 18), Cllr Carl Maynard, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for adult social care, agreed plans to spend £491,675 of the government’s Homes for Ukraine grant funding to create an employment support programme.
Launched in March, the Homes for Ukraine scheme offers a route for Ukrainians to apply to live in the UK, as long as they have a named sponsor offering a place to stay.
Currently, Ukrainians can stay in the UK for up to three years under the scheme. They can stay with their host families for up to 12 months, but are expected to live independently after this initial period.
Cllr Maynard said the employment support programme, which will include IT and language training as well as job search mentoring, aims to ensure refugees are able to have a ‘sustainable future’ in the UK as these host family arrangements draw to a close.
As of July 27 there were 1,147 Ukrainians staying within 487 sponsor homes in East Sussex. A further 445 Ukrainians are matched to an additional 178 sponsor homes, some of whom now be with their host families.
While the programme will focus on supporting Ukrainians, the support could be extended to other groups of refugees as well.
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