Posted inCommunity Voices

Cwmbran couple taking in family of refugees who fled Ukraine

Georgina and Billy Moorcroft
Georgina and Billy Moorcroft

Georgina Moorcroft, 26 and her husband, Billy , 27, live in Ty Canol. The pair are taking in a family of four refugees from Ukraine. She writes about why their decision was a ‘no brainer’. They are looking forward to meeting the mum, dad and two children when they arrive in the UK next week.

“I have been living in Cwmbran for a little over two years now with my husband. We bought our first home here just before the pandemic hit. Not long after the pandemic hit my brother had to move in with us and we did not hesitate to take him in. When the government announced the news of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, myself and my husband had a very short conversation before we agreed with little hesitation that this is something we wanted to do.

“We have two decent-sized spare bedrooms and a second bathroom so in our heads it was ‘why wouldn’t we?’ We immediately signed up for the scheme on the government website and decided to take it upon ourselves to do some more research and look at how we could help a family. My sister sent me a link to a website – Ukraine Take Shelter – where we effectively put up an advert for our spare rooms and within 24-hours of putting that advert up we had agreed to take in a family of four.

“We were initially contacted by a Ukrainian woman who already lives in Cwmbran and knew of a family who were fleeing the conflict and wanted their children to be able to go to the same school. The school they wanted to go to was one that was just a 15-minute walk from our house – no brainer! She quickly put me in contact with her friend who is currently in Poland and we have been talking every day since.

“I suppose so far I haven’t spoken that much about the ‘Why’ we are doing this, when to us the real question was ‘Why Not’. If we were in this situation and were forced to leave everything behind to start a new life – would we want someone to open their homes to us? Absolutely! These families are not coming from nothing, they had lives and jobs and possessions, they went on holidays just like you and me. The only thing that separates us is where we were lucky enough to be born.

“It is no fault of any of these people fleeing Ukraine that this war has happened and they have lost everything. The least I can do to help is to open my home to a handful of them, it really wasn’t a question for either of us. This family might change our lives, or they might be a small chapter in the book that is our lives. What we are doing is changing theirs. I don’t see this as anything heroic or special, I see this as doing what is within my capability. I understand not everyone will be able to do this themselves – but if everyone can help in their own way in this crisis, and all the others that are and will befall the world in our lifetime, then we can make the world that little bit better with each act of kindness we make.

“If you are interested in doing this yourself or want to help in some other way then please don’t hesitate to contact me or my husband as we have done a lot of research. Wales is now a Super-Sponsor– this will help pair families with sponsors in Wales rather than having to bring in a named individual. I have made a group on Facebook dedicated to families in Cwmbran who are looking to help and bring in families from Ukraine, I also have an Instagram, TikTok and a Travel Blog where I post about this as well so feel free to follow my journey on any of those.”

Follow their story

Facebook: Cwmbran Ukranian Family Support
Instagram: @themoorcroftdiaries/
TikTok: @gbmadventures
Blog: https://gbmadventures.wordpress.com/

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Cwmbran couple taking in family of refugees who fled Ukraine