Hove Peace Vigil; Brighton Pavilion Lights Up For Ukraine; Council Offers Advice On How You Can Help

Brighton & Hove City Council has offered advice on how you can help people fleeing the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and other countries affected by war.

There are a number of local charities providing direct support to new arrivals in the city, such as Voices in Exile, Refugee Radio, Thousand41000, and the Hummingbird Project.  

You can find out about other groups supporting refugees in Brighton & Hove and further afield through the local City of Sanctuary group, Sanctuary on Sea, and their directory of resources for refugees and migrants in Brighton & Hove.

A number of national and international charities have also launched appeals. 

The British Red Cross has launched a Ukraine Crisis Appeal to support the work of the Ukrainian Red Cross to fund food, water, first aid, medicines, warm clothes and shelter.

The UNHCR refugee agency is collecting monetary donations for humanitarian assistance, emergency shelter and relief items like blankets. It will also fund psychological support for refugees.

The UN's children's charity, UNICEF, is accepting donations to help ensure child health and protection services are sustained and families have clean water and food.

The Association of Ukrainians in GB has also set up an emergency appeal.

You can also donate to appeals from CARE International UK, the International Rescue Committee, World Vision and Care4Calais.

• More information on how to help refugees in Brighton & Hove

Information supplied by Brighton & Hove City Council

Peace Vigil 

The Brighton & Hove Interfaith Contact Group are holding a peace vigil honouring all those caught up in the Ukraine crisis.

The vigil is taking place between 8pm and 9pm on Sunday 6 March Hove Methodist Church, Portland Road, Hove BN3 5DR. Everyone welcome, for all or part of the hour.

Face coverings are not mandatory but will be worn by some attendees, so please bring your own if you wish. Hand sanitiser will be available.  

City of Sanctuary

Leader of the Council, Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, said:

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the military aggression against Ukraine.

“Thank you to everyone who has been in touch with their kind and touching offers of support - I am being reminded why our residents have hearts of gold. 

“We strongly encourage residents to play their part in alleviating this humanitarian crisis on many levels. Some of these are detailed here and we will update our guidance when we receive relevant updates from government.

“We are proud of our history of providing a welcome to refugees. We stand ready to offer our support and will work with the city’s excellent community and voluntary sector organisations on how we continue to offer asylum to people fleeing war and increasingly the effects of climate change. 

“We are lobbying the government to provide asylum to Ukrainian nationals and share the despair that is felt across the nation that they have yet to do so. However, the war in Ukraine is another sharp reminder that the asylum system in this country is broken. 

“We desperately need a compassionate national response to people - Ukrainian, as much as Iranian, Yemeni, Eritrean and Syrian - fleeing indescribable pain and suffering. 

“Likewise, we do not - and will never - tolerate hate towards any of our vibrant and diverse communities, no matter what’s happening elsewhere.

“If you’ve experienced any form of hate or anti-social behaviour, please report this to the police in the first instance- using the details below. We take the safety and inclusion of all our communities seriously. All communities are welcome and all belong.”

You can contact our community safety team by:

• using our online anti-social behaviour and hate incident reporting form
• emailing communitysafety.casework@brighton-hove.gov.uk
• calling 01273 292 735 - in an emergency, always call the police on 999

You can also report hate incidents to Sussex Police or call them on 101 if it’s not an emergency.