Support for Ukraine

Guidance for sponsors

Our team is here to help and support any sponsors of Ukrainian guests in our district. You can email them at ukraine@braintree.gov.uk or call 01376 552525. 

How to become a sponsor

You can register your interest in the Homes for Ukraine Scheme (GOV.UK). The scheme allows individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to offer refuge to an individual or family from Ukraine who are fleeing the war.

If you have signed up to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, read the government's latest advice for sponsors, and their frequently asked questions. 

Reset Communities and Refugees, a charity leading UK community sponsorship, is launching a matching and training service for sponsors and refugees under the UK Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme. This will bring together sponsors and refugees and assess their eligibility and suitability for the scheme. It will also provide training and advice to the sponsors and community groups.

Reset has also produced a toolkit for sponsors wishing to welcome people through the Homes for Ukraine programme. Some references to ‘local authority’ within the toolkit relate to Essex County Council, not us. 

Welcome pack

A welcome pack has been produced for sponsors part of the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme. 

Essex County Council has also produced a web page with information for sponsors welcoming a Ukrainian person or family.

Financial support for you and your guest

We are contacting sponsors and/or guests in regards to the £200 payment that Ukrainian guests are entitled to if arriving from Ukraine to the UK through the Homes for Ukraine scheme once we are notified by Essex County Council. 

Sponsors who are part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme will receive a thank you payment of £350 per month. Full details about this payment is available on the Essex County Council website. 

Training opportunities 

Free taster Ukrainian language course

ACL Essex are offering free tasters and introductory courses to learn Ukrainian. This could be beneficial if you currently volunteer or support Ukrainian families. You can sign up via the ACL Essex website. 

Helping the Helper - Traume Informed Principles During a Crisis

Join an online course delivered by Sue Bell OBE and Dimitra Theodoropoulou experienced Psychotherapists, Qualified Attachment and Trauma Resolution Specialists.

Aimed at anyone who is supporting a refugee family across the UK:

  • Host families
  • Therapists
  • School staff
  • Community workers etc.

This training will explore how they support individuals impacted by war and the skills learned will be transferrable to supporting people in crisis.

You will learn some basic theory about trauma physiology, how our bodies respond to keep us safe and how at times of crisis we can feel dysregulated.

Dates, times and Eventbrite links to book a complimentary place: