Mayor Dave Hodgson urges government to act now to help Ukraine

At a meeting of Full Council, Mayor Dave Hodgson answered a question from local Kempston Liberal Democrat Campaigner Linda Jack on what the council is doing and what residents can do to help Ukrainian refugees.

Mayor Dave Hodgson expressed his gratitude to all the residents who had spoken to him asking how they could help. He said:

"I, like so many, am shocked and appalled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I have however been impressed and taken heart from the outpouring of support and offers of help. Last week I met with some of Bedford Borough's Ukrainian community. Listening to our residents telling us of their family and friends experiences in Ukraine was beyond heart-breaking.

Following that meeting both I, and the Council, emailed residents with practical steps they could take to help, including donating items to the many organisations collecting to send goods to Ukraine, donating money and also to sign a petition calling on the Government to waive visas.

I have heard back from those collecting donations and they told me how generous our residents have been and a number of trucks have been sent from Bedford Borough to Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

I can also confirm we are already working with a number of Ukrainians to support their applications. I also have a meeting with one of the social housing providers in the next few days to discuss which properties are available."

Bedford Borough has a proud history of humanitarian support during times of international crisis and welcomed refugees fleeing from Syria and most recently Afghanistan. In both of these cases the Council worked with the Home Office and the Local Government Association to help support these refuges, and it stands ready again to help those fleeing Ukraine.

Newnham Liberal Democrat Councillor Jake Sampson also asked a question on whether the government had been in contact with the council to discuss provisions for the Ukrainians such as school places, social care and job opportunities.

Mayor Dave said "There was a first short briefing this afternoon, where there were more questions than answers. There are still a lot of issues around matching the 120,000 people who have offered help to Ukrainian refugees and we'll have to ensure that we make school places available. The government have yet to tell us how all this will be funded.

"We need some clarity now. It was only yesterday that Lord Harrington was appointed as the Minister for Refugees, a fortnight after Russia rolled into Ukraine. We've had two lots of refugee crises in recent years from Syria and Afghanistan and the government have seemed to learn absolutely nothing. It really is appalling. Across the political spectrum, people are not proud about how this government is dealing with this."

To donate money to the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/helpukraine.

To sign the petition on Parliament's website calling on the Government to waive visas requirement for Ukrainian refugees visit https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/609530.

To offer your home to a named Ukrainian visit https://homesforukraine.campaign.gov.uk/.