It’s been confirmed this morning that over 89,000 people in the UK have signed-up to open their homes to refugees fleeing war in Ukraine.
The website for the dedicated Homes for Ukraine scheme was officially launched yesterday afternoon, and has reportedly crashed on several occasions as an impressive 1,500 people registered to offer support within just the first hour of it going live, according to Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove.
In an address to the House of Commons this morning, Mr Gove said that the UK had a history of “supporting the most vulnerable during their darkest hours”.
He expressed his hope that many Brits would “open their homes” and accept Ukrainian refugees, adding that this act would help those fleeing persecution to find “peace, healing and the prospect of a brighter future.
Mr Gove said the new scheme would be based on “the enormous goodwill and generosity of the British public”, and said there’d be “no limit” to how many Ukrainians could enter the UK under the scheme.
“This is a huge humanitarian crisis, and we are urging the British public to come forward and help where they can,” Mr Gove said.
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As part of the visa sponsorship scheme, any Ukrainian national or immediate family member of a Ukrainian national, if they were resident in Ukraine prior to 1 January this year, is eligible to enter the country, and they do not need to have existing family ties to the UK.
📣NEW – UK individuals, charities, community groups & businesses can now record their interest in supporting Ukrainians fleeing the war through our new Homes for Ukraine scheme.
— Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (@luhc) March 14, 2022
How does the scheme work?
The scheme offers a route to those who want to come to the UK and have someone here willing to provide them with a home, and will enable individuals, charities, community groups, and businesses to volunteer accommodation and provide a route to safety for Ukrainians, and their immediate family members who have been forced to escape their homeland.
Sponsors should provide accommodation for as long as they are able, but the government has a minimum expectation of six months.
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Under the first phase of the scheme, offers must be made to a specific person or people, and charities and other organisations might be able to help those offering accommodation to make contact with a named person.
It’s been confirmed that checks will be undertaken on individuals offering to host refugees, but Mr Gove said full DBS checks would not be needed.
Local councils may also check that the accommodation being offered is appropriate.
Is there any financial support?
As confirmed last week ahead of the launch of the scheme yesterday, those who make an offer of accommodation to refugees will be entitled to an optional “thank you” tax-free payment of £350 per month, and this will not affect benefit entitlement or council tax status, such as single occupancy discount.
Those offering to house refugees will not be expected to cover the costs of meals, food and living expenses for Ukrainians, but they can do if they wish to do so.
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Local councils will also be offered extra funding to give wider support.
Refugees from Ukraine under the scheme will be able to apply for benefits, take up employment, and will be granted leave to remain in the UK for three years so they have the access public services, such as the NHS and schooling.
89,000 people in the UK have signed-up to open their homes to refugees fleeing war in Ukraine / Credit: DEC (via Twitter)
How do I sign up?
You can sign up to offer accommodation to refugees fleeing Ukraine on the Homes for Ukraine website here.
If you have a named person who you wish to sponsor, then you should get in contact with them directly and prepare to fill in a visa application – which will go live on Friday 18 March – with all their details and yours, but if you don’t know anyone and still want to offer accommodation, the government suggests getting in touch with charities, faith groups, or local community organisations who are starting to make connections between individuals.
You can record your interest as an individual or as an organisation, and the government says all those who register will be “kept updated” once they sign-up.
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Additionally, the British public are also being urged to make donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which has been set up in response to the crisis in Ukraine, with every pound donated by the British public set to be matched by the government up to the value of £20 million.
The DEC has stressed that monetary donations are needed as opposed to specific items, which are often challenging to transport and not always relevant.
You can find more information and donate via the DEC here.
Teen sentenced after deliberately driving into a female police officer in Stockport
Emily Sergeant
A teen who deliberately drove into a female police officer at a retail park Stockport earlier this year has been sentenced.
Harvey Bell was at a retail park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle back on 25 January 2025 when he seriously injured a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer during a shocking incident – which left the officer requiring hospital treatment.
At the time, the 19-year-old from Knutsford was present while police were investigating reports of class C drug use in a car park.
Police parked in front of an Audi and the officer signalled for Bell to remain stationary and turn the engine off, but instead he reversed, and as the officer approached the front windscreen, Bell drove at the officer, knocking her to the ground.
He then proceeded to drive over her legs with both sets of wheels, before heading out of the car park at speed.
#JAILED | A man who deliberately drove into a police officer in Stockport has been jailed.
Harvey Bell (12/08/2005) has been sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute and was disqualified from driving for two years.
— Stockport Police (GMP) (@GMPStockport) June 4, 2025
Bell was subsequently arrested the following day and made no comment in his police interview, but then went on to plead guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, as well as possession of cannabis on 27 March 2025.
The teen appeared at Manchester Crown Court this week where he was sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute, and was also disqualified from driving for two years – which will take effect when he is released.
“What [Bell] did to me is permanently in the back of my mind, every call I go to, I feel the apprehension, the fear that any incident, no matter how innocuous it appears, can end with being assaulted or hurt,” the officer explained in a powerful victim impact statement read in court.
“This is an unseen result of Bell’s assault on me.”
She continued: “I know that Bell’s abhorrent behaviour is an exception, and the majority of the public we serve do not wish us harm, but assaults on police need to stop. An attack on a police officer is an attack on us all.
“Bell is a danger to society and had total disregard for my life.”
Featured Image – GMP
News
IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site
Emily Sergeant
It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.
The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.
The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.
IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.
IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.
Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.
IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.
Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.
The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.
“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.
“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”
Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester.
Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.
Emily Sergeant -
15th March 2022 
