‘We will rearrange our home to house refugees’

The Coutts family from North Berwick do not have a massive amount of free space.

But what they do have they are willing to share.

That is how strongly they feel about helping Ukrainians fleeing their war-battered country.

“It’s desperate and heartbreaking,” says Sarah Coutts. “Anything we can do”.

The family made their way to Edinburgh on Sunday to join a rally for the people of Ukraine.

More than 100 people attended the protest against the Russian invasion.

Sarah has already discussed the possibility of taking in a family with her husband.

The UK government is launching a scheme which will pay UK residents to open their homes to people fleeing the war.

Households will be offered £350 per month for at least six months. 

The Scottish and Welsh governments have offered to step even further to support refugees by acting as super sponsors, meaning Ukrainians can get to Scotland faster than waiting to find an individual sponsor.

Sarah thinks she might do it: “It’s a really important idea and I know a lot of people will open their hearts and their doors if they can.

“You have to have the space, you have to be sure you can offer the commitment that’s needed to host families but we will do what we can.

“It’s a manageable commitment, six months. If you have the space I don’t think it’s unreasonable. It is something we are considering – if we can organise our home that way.”

Her husband Jim is well aware it could be difficult.

He said: “It is literally potentially our sons sharing. It’s consideration of taking in a family that can be quite broken, without the male member of the household as they are obviously restricted from coming over.

“It is a big commitment but is definitely worthwhile considering if you can make that space – £350 a month – that’s not the incentivisation for this. This has to be an act of your own charity.

“You are not going to get very far with that sort of money for bringing another family into your own home.”

Angus and Gilbert are all for welcoming a family.

Gilbert said: “I think I wouldn’t really mind too much it would be kind of cool.”

His brother added: “It could be hard to get used to but I think after a couple of months we’d be used to it and they would be part of our family.”

A website will open tomorrow for people to register interest in hosting a Ukrainian family.

But Father Vasyl Kren from Our Lady of Pochayiv – the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Edinburgh – wants people to think long and hard.

He told BBC Scotland it would be a big responsibility and that Ukrainians arriving from a war zone may be traumatised.

He said: “Don’t make decisions like these on emotions. Through this process, those who are happy to invite the refugees have to know this is a big responsibility. Be aware that this will affect your cost of living.

“The government has to support these families with medical and psychological help.”

He also said he hoped this would put pressure on the large number of people in the city who used their properties for letting sites such as AirBnB, to help those fleeing violence.

Neil Gray, the minister for Europe and International Development, has been given responsibility for the Scottish government’s approach to supporting Ukrainian refugees.

He says the Scottish government will continue to push the UK administration to waive visas for Ukrainian people.

And if that cannot happen he asks that the system is made as simple as possible to enable refugees to enter the UK as soon as possible.

He said: “We want to do everything we can with the resources we have. We are looking to provide long-term housing because we can see that this isn’t going to be a situation that resolves itself quickly and we want to do everything we can across public, private and third sector.”

Mr Gray said he was “absolutely overawed” by the number of people offering a place in their home to families fleeing Ukraine.

“It has been heartwarming and not the least I would expect from the people of Scotland who have a long history of providing help to people who are fleeing incredibly awful situations around the world for many, many years.”

He said a package of support was being created for Ukrainians who had escaped terrible situations and had experienced significant trauma.