Former Ripon Grammar School student Lewis Edwards has told the Stray Ferret that ambulances in Ukraine are being attacked by Russian forces.

This is among the latest in a growing list of breaches of the Geneva Convention committed by the invading troops, as the situation for civilians trapped in towns and cities under siege becomes more horrific and desperate by the hour.

The targeting of the emergency vehicles follows a weekend in which fleeing refugees came under attack during a supposed ceasefire in Mariupol.

Lewis Edwards and his partner Tanya Bogdanovska pictured at Christmas in Kyiv

Speaking from Slovakia yesterday afternoon, Mr Edwards said:

“I got a phone call from an organisation in Ukraine saying they wanted me to try and source armoured ambulances, because the Russians have started shooting at the normal ambulances used to take injured people hospital.

“Through contacts, I’ve managed to find two already and I’ve been phoning around asking if there is anybody who might know where we can get some more.

“The whole situation is chaotic and insane, as the aid agencies that we are working alongside seem to be relying on us – 10 refugees – to provide logistical support, because we appear to be able to get things done that they can’t.”

Oksana Pron (left) and Kristina Simalova are part of the team sending items such as medical supplies from Slovakia to Ukraine.

Mr Edwards, 33, and his 30-year-old Ukrainian partner Tanya Bogdanovska — both teachers who had been working at a private school in Kyiv — fled the Ukraine capital on February 25.

After crossing the border into Slovakia a week ago, they teamed up with eight other volunteers to help people seeking sanctuary in countries including the UK.

As well as helping refugees — mostly women and children who are arriving in Slovakia each day — they are continuing to do all that they can for Ukraine people, including friends and family, who have been unable to escape.

In addition to sourcing ambulances, they have supplied a generator for an area without electricity and have assembled a shipment of essential medical supplies that will be setting off to Ukraine tomorrow.

Pictures of local people from the past are lighting up the front of Ripon’s Workhouse Museum with a new after-dark display.

People of Ripon’s Past, features historic photographs from the Ripon Re-Viewed collection including, among others, North Eastern Railway staff, workers from Ostcliffe’s Tannery, land girls and a refugee family.

Running until March 21, the daily display can be seen between 6pm and midnight.

The Images are projected onto the museum with a design created by locally-based audio-visual and lighting specialists Fusion LX

Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust said:

“We had some fantastic feedback from the community on our previous lighting displays and we wanted to continue into 2022.

“After talking with Ripon Re-Viewed, we came up with the idea to display some brilliant historic photos of Ripon in days gone by, as a way to bring the community together through our shared past.

“Hopefully, the display will intrigue and inspire anyone passing by the museum on Allhallowgate.”

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A Harrogate gallery has set up a charity Giving Tree in aid of children from Syria and Afghanistan.

Watermark Gallery has organised the Christmas tree, which is decorated with a tag for each of the 73 refugee children in the Harrogate district.

Anyone who would like to support the project is being asked to take a tag and buy a gift of up to £20 suitable for the age and gender given.

Two-year-old Agatha (pictured above) was the first to buy a gift.

Anna Martola, from Watermark Gallery who has organised the project, said:

“We were struck by how much these families have been through and wanted to do something positive and creative to help welcome them to our region.

“These children have so little and will be surrounded by others who are receiving so much.”

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The gallery is working with Ripon City of Sanctuary, a charity that supports families throughout the Harrogate district, many of whom have recently arrived from Syria and Afghanistan.

For those who are not able to buy their own gift, the gallery is taking donations and will buy on their behalf. It is also donating colouring books and coloured pencils to each family. 

A spokesperson for Ripon City of Sanctuary said:

“We are so delighted that Watermark Gallery has chosen Ripon City of Sanctuary as their charity this year. It is such a positive and welcoming project and we know just how grateful our families will be”.

Anyone wishing to donate a gift is asked to do so before December 18 to give the charity time to distribute them out to each family. 

Watermark Gallery can be contacted on 01423 562659 or in person at 8 Royal Parade, Harrogate, HG1 2SZ.

Nidderdale Community Welcome is urgently seeking a house to rent in or close to Pateley Bridge to home a refugee family.

The community group has already raised more than £12,000 to help a refugee family from Syria or Afghanistan, to start a new life in the UK.

Peter Wright, NCW’s housing lead, told the Stray Ferret:

“We need a two, three or four-bedroom property with a garden, on a bus route in Nidderdale, ideally near Pateley Bridge.

“The property needs to be available to the family for a minimum of two years, but the arrangement could easily extend for much longer.

“This offers certainty for landlords and avoids the cost and disruption of changing tenants regularly.”

Nidderdale Community Welcome is taking part in a scheme originally set-up by former Prime Minister David Cameron to welcome 20,000 Syrian refugees to the UK.

Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in the summer, an increased number of refugees from that country have also been offered the opportunity to come to the UK.

The Home Office and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will choose a family based on the number of bedrooms in the house that is secured for rental by NCW.

As part of their resettlement package, the family is entitled to housing benefit and can pay monthly rental ranging from £663 for a two-bedroom house to £1,067 for a four-bedroom property.

Mr Wright said:

“We can provide the bond and one month’s rent in advance, if required. If we find the right home before the family arrives and is able to move in, we could potentially provide a short period of 100% rental bridging to hold the property for them.

“Our charity will provide long-term support for the family and will act as the first point of contact between them and the landlord, to ensure that all communications are well-managed.”

Landlords able to help NCW in its search for a rental property, are asked to contact Mr Wright, via email on wrightpandh@gmail.com

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Attempts to resettle a refugee family in the Pateley Bridge area have taken a significant step forward.

Nidderdale Community Welcome, a community group set up to sponsor a refugee family in Nidderdale, has found a house and raised more than £12,000.

Peter Wright, who heads the organisation, said:

“We can expect a refugee family to be selected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and for the family to be with us in about four months time.”

With funding and housing in place, the application to bring the family to the Dales now needs Home Office approval, which should be a formality.

In preparation for the resettlement, Nidderdale Community Welcome is to hold a meeting at Pateley Bridge Methodist Church between 7pm and 9pm on Tuesday next week. For further details email wrightpandh@gmail.com

The search for a house in the Pateley Bridge area for a refugee family has been successful.

Mr Wright said:

“We are now moving from the planning to the implementation stage and need to put together small teams to assist the family with benefits, schooling, language, etc.

“The meeting will allow people to hear what is involved and to help us by signing on to one or more of the teams.”

The steering group is also looking at the possibility of establishing a community investment scheme to purchase a house for the longer term of this project.

People able to invest between £5,000 and £40,000 in a fixed-term scheme with an anticipated return of two percent per annum would have a proportionate share in the capital of the house.

John Tarrant, treasurer of Nidderdale Community Welcome, can be contacted at johntarrant@leakhb.plus.com  for further information.

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Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the refugee focus has switched from those displaced by war in Syria to Afghan nationals fleeing their country.

While Nidderdale Community Welcome, which was set up in November, plans for its first refugee family, Ripon City of Sanctuary has already resettled a number of Syrian families and is ready for another.

The group, established in 2016, has been fundraising since April, in anticipation of bringing another Syrian family to the city.

It has raised 85 per cent of the money needed and a has identified a suitable house.

Nicola David, chair of the Ripon group, said:

“We have been trying to build a little Syrian community here.

“Some Afghan interpreter families are currently being assisted to resettle in the UK, and a very small number have arrived in the Harrogate district.”

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan earlier this month, four families have been resettled in Harrogate through the government’s Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme.

Our story on Harrogate Borough Council pledging to house refugees fleeing the country provoked a big reaction on social media, both positive and negative, and we wanted to answer some of the questions raised in the responses.

Refugees are people fleeing armed conflicts or persecution and are protected in international law.

An asylum seeker is someone who claims to be a refugee but whose claim hasn’t been evaluated.

We put several questions to Belinda Goode, chair of Harrogate District of Sanctuary, a charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers in the Harrogate district.

Who is coming to Harrogate?

These are Afghan families and their arrival was planned. They knew Nato forces were withdrawing and there was a deal with the Taliban in 2020. They are interpreters who worked for the British Army and their families who were in a vulnerable situation in Afghanistan. They’ve been here a couple of weeks self-isolating in hotels then arrived in Harrogate.

Do refugees jump the social housing queue?

There are a very small number of people coming through the resettlement scheme and they will be given accommodation [in council housing]. North Yorkshire County Council approached Harrogate Borough Council for that.

Housing is sourced and they are supported by the Refugee Council who makes sure they have access to the healthcare that we take for granted. We support them with this.

In the last five years, we’ve not had 20 families and not all of them live in local authority accommodation.

If they don’t come through this planned resettlement scheme they won’t be entitled to social housing. They will be placed in private rental accommodation but it’s usually substandard.

Can refugees work — and do they want to?

Yes, they’ve been given the right to remain here and contribute to society.

Often people come here with great skills but can’t find work. I met a woman who was an engineer in Iran. She couldn’t work and she found it incredibly frustrating and odd that she couldn’t pay her taxes and contribute. She’s doing a course to eventually become a doctor. It’s not that people don’t want to work, they want opportunity.

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Are asylum seekers coming to the UK illegally?

One of the biggest issues is people understanding that asylum seekers are not illegal. It is a legal right to seek asylum. There’s no such thing as a bogus or illegal asylum seeker. 

Asylum seekers are experiencing the same struggles as refugees, but an asylum seeker flees the country on their own and not through an organised resettlement process. They have to apply for asylum once they get here.

Does Harrogate have the space to house refugees and asylum seekers?

We’re not in the top 10 countries that take Syrian refugees. It’s countries like Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Germany, Iraq and Egypt.

The idea that people will always come to England through other countries isn’t factual. Often they will stay in nearby countries.

It’s easy to find these statistics if you look in the right places. We take a very small proportion of refugees. We see the boats coming over and the media use words like “hoards” and “flooded” but in Syria, the statistics are scary. Five million people live without direct access to water. These are often children who are desperate. 

Is Harrogate a ‘welcoming, tolerant and diverse’ place, as suggested by the council leader?

That is aspirational but people’s hearts have been wrung out by the scenes in Afghanistan and at Kabul airport. The majority of people have that humanitarian pull to ask what can we do to help.

There are another group of people who will never change their minds, equally you’ll never change my mind about the situation. 

Our culture in Harrogate is not multi-ethnic and in that sense, it’s more of a challenge. It’s not a big city where naturally there are people from all sorts of races but I’ve seen some wonderful kindness in Harrogate.

There have been some issues [with racism], but that’s not just Harrogate it’s everywhere.

The refugees bring a huge richness of culture with them. What I’ve learned about Syrian food and culture is brilliant. And how welcoming a culture it is. You’re always offered food and these are people that don’t have a lot.

If you visit a refugee family, leave plenty of time, you’re not going to get away with a quick cuppa like you would in the UK. They enjoy life and they want to share it.

Ripon will do all it can to help with the resettlement of Afghan families fleeing their country in fear of the Taliban.

That’s the message from the city’s Conservative county councillors Mike Chambers and Stuart Martin, following a call for urgent action from former Mayor of Ripon, John Richmond.

Mr Richmond, who served as an independent councillor on Ripon City and North Yorkshire County Council, noticed that a clutch of former Ministry of Defence-owned houses off Whitcliffe Lane are up for sale.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“In view of the desperate plight of the Afghans that we are witnessing every day, on our televisions, I wondered if a few houses could be set aside to meet their pressing need.”

The former mayor put the question to Cllrs Chambers and Martin and also Ripon’s MP Julian Smith and he has been encouraged by their positive responses.

John Richmond is seeking urgent help to find homes in Ripon for families fleeing Afghanistan.

Cllr Chambers, who is also Harrogate Borough Council‘s cabinet member for homes and safer communities, said:

“We are already committed to resettling Afghan families in the Harrogate district and will look closely at what can be done specifically in Ripon.”

Lease back agreement

Among former MoD properties that are being marketed by Ripon’s estate agents are homes in Marina Way and Kent Close.

Prior to going on the market, the family-sized houses are being ‘lightly refurbished’ by Group Worx.

In 1996, the MoD entered into a sale and lease back arrangement with Annington Property Limited involving 55,000 homes built originally for military personnel and their families.

This includes properties in Ripon and sale boards in Marina Way and Kent Close bear the Annington name.

Cllr Chambers said:

“The properties haven’t belonged to the MoD for 25 years, but we will have to see what we can do.

“I am very aware of the ties that this country has with Afghanistan, having been welfare officer for the Royal Engineers in Ripon following my career in the RAF.”

‘Exceptional circumstances’

Cllr Martin, who is also a district councillor and immediate past mayor of the Harrogate district, said:

“While I remain mindful that many local people are seeking assistance from the council with finding a home, these are exceptional circumstances.

“A large number of Afghans who are having to leave their country for their own safety have helped the British and US forces and are our friends.

“You should help your friends and I am all for supporting their resettlement here in Ripon and other parts of the district.”

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A response received from Julian Smith’s office said that he would look into the suggested provision of some of the MoD’s former properties.

Mr Richmond added:

“At times like these, actions will speak louder than words, I’m pleased with the willingness to look at my suggestion and believe that if Ripon and all communities across the UK can do their bit, we can ease a lot of suffering.”

Ripon City of Sanctuary and Nidderdale Community Welcome (NCW) have called on the government to ‘open doors wider’ to people fleeing Afghanistan.

The refugee resettlement groups welcome news that the UK is committed to resettle up to 20,000 men, women and children.

However, they want to ensure that the selection criteria is not limited exclusively to those associated with Western organisations  – including the military and diplomatic missions.

The groups believe the programme should also be open to women and ethnic minorities who have already been targeted by the Taliban.

They are also concerned about the possible impact on the current resettlement programme for refugees from war-torn Syria, that has been in place since 2016.

The tranquility of Nidderdale – a far cry from the troubles that the Afghan people are facing

Nicola David, chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are concerned that the government’s new Afghan programme will probably slam the doors on further Syrian resettlement.”

Ripon City of Sanctuary, has been fundraising since April, anticipating that it would be bringing another Syrian family to the city.

It has raised 85 per cent of the money needed and a has a house in prospective.

Ms. David, pointed out:

“We have been trying to build a little Syrian community here.”

Afghan interpreter families are already being supported locally, as part of the government’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP)

Ms. David, added:

“Some Afghan interpreter families are currently being assisted to resettle in the UK, and a very small number arrived in the Harrogate district last week.”

In June, the Stray Ferret reported that Harrogate Borough Council was set to provide homes for four of the families.

In 2015, former prime minister David Cameron announced the programme for Re-settlement of Syrian refugees in the UK.

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With homes already found for some in the Harrogate and Ripon areas, NCW hopes to provide similar support for a family in the Dales by Christmas.

Peter Wright,  who heads the Nidderdale group, said:

“The first refugees from Afghanistan are starting to arrive in the area. Maybe we will get a family in Nidderdale, we don’t know at this point, but we should all do as much as possible to support those fleeing for their lives.”

Nidderdale Community Welcome (NCW), is exploring an investment option, as it looks to support a refugee family’s re-settlement in the Pateley Bridge area.

The scarcity of suitably-located two and three-bedroom homes available for rental in Nidderdale, has prompted the move.

NCW’s treasurer, John Tarrant, told the Stray Ferret:

“Finding a home is fundamental and here is an opportunity for an ethical investment that will help a family currently in a refugee camp in the Middle East in appalling circumstances, who may have lost everything.”

Mr Tarrant pointed out:

“Before we do further planning we need to know whether we can find enough potential investors to finance a house purchase.

“They will not be making a donation to to NCW, but providing the means of purchasing a property outright.”

As well as receiving a 2% annual return on their investment, after five years the investors will have the option of selling the property and having monies returned to them.

The investment scheme is separate from the almost £11,000 that has already been raised through donations and pledges.

That money will be used to ensure that the family is established in their new Nidderdale home with part of it used for rental costs.

Before refugee families can come to the this country, where they will have the same rights as UK citizens, they have to go through a detailed vetting process.

The popularity of Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale as a place to live, means the demand for rental properties outstrips supply

The community support group also has to receive approvals from the Home Office and the local authorities.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees selects a family suitable for the size of house that the community group is able to find.

As the search for a rental property is proving difficult, the investment route may provide a better short and longer-term option.

Mr Tarrant, said:

“Full details have not yet been finalised but there are several such community investment schemes helping refugee families throughout the country and we will be using a well-tried model.”

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One such scheme was successfully launched in the Cambridgeshire town of Godmanchester, where a community welcome group raised £300,000 to buy a house for the family that has re-settled in their area.

NCW is looking to raise a similar amount from up to 20 investors who may wish to invest anything from £5,000 to £45,000.

Mr Tarrant is in liaison with the charity Hope into Action, which has experience of working with community groups within the Community Sponsorship Scheme.

Anybody wanting to know more about the NCW investment scheme is asked to contact: johntarrant@leakhb.plus.com

Hopes are high that a refugee family will be safely relocated to Nidderdale by Christmas.

Nidderdale Community Welcome has, through donations and fundraising events, built up a fund of approximately £11,500.

Peter Wright, who is heading the initiative, told the Stray Ferret:

“This is a tremendous effort, when bearing in mind that a lot of our activities have been virtual because of the covid lockdowns.”

He added:

“It illustrates that the Nidderdale community is caring, compassionate and willing to help a family in desperate circumstances to re-build their lives here.”

Peter Wright and supporters of Nidderdale Community Welcome prepare to bring a refugee family to the dales

The aim is to hit an initial target of £13,000 to provide the financial support that the family will need.

Finding a three-bedroom house in or near Pateley Bridge is the top priority and the search is on for a landlord with a suitable property available to let by the end of the summer.

Mr Wright pointed out:

“If we can secure this, there is every chance that we can have a home ready for the family to move into before Christmas.

“It doesn’t have to be in perfect decorative order, because we have a team of volunteers ready to help out.”

With lockdown restrictions easing, Nidderdale Community Welcome has been able to organise ever-more ambitious fundraising events.

The latest one is a treasure hunt – called Le Mo-Tour for Refugees, involving a 60-mile tour of the local dales.

It runs between July 10 and August 20 and is open to anybody who wishes to take part in return for a £10 team donation.

Participants must register at nc-welome.org to receive a clue sheet for the hunt.

While the fundraising continues, the formal behind-the-scenes processes involved in progressing the community support programme is ongoing.

To be involved in the Home Office-backed scheme, Nidderdale Community Welcome has to prepare everything that will be needed to support the refugee family.

In obtaining refugee status families have to prove that they were forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence.

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Attaining the status means they are entitled to the same help and welfare as anyone else living in the UK.

Nidderdale Community Welcome is working in partnership with the charity Catholic Care Leeds, which will take ultimate responsibility for the agreement that is being drawn up with the Home Office.