The future of a vital hub which has become a ‘second home’ for Ukrainians living in the UK after fleeing their war-torn homeland has been secured for another two years.
Since it opened in 2022, the Ukrainian Welcome Centre has helped thousands of displaced Ukrainians through support services, advice services with Government departments and expert partners, English lessons and cultural activities.
But the centre, based at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in the heart of London’s Mayfair, faced the prospect of closure when its original funding ran out.
Now, it can continue running for at least two more years, thanks to a £193,800 grant from City Bridge Foundation, the capital’s biggest independent charity funder.
Andriy Marchenko, Ukrainian Welcome Centre Director, said; “The centre started because we didn’t want displaced Ukrainians to just huddle down here and wait the war out – we wanted to help them settle and thrive in the UK.
“Over the last three years, the centre has become a place that’s buzzing – people come here, make friends and talk to people in their own language. To many of them it’s like a second home.
“This funding has been vital to us because if the centre had to close, people would have felt lost again. They would have lost this community which wraps around them with support and empathy.”
The Ukrainian Welcome Centre opened in May 2022 as a joint initiative of the Ukrainian Eparchy of the Holy Family in London and the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.
Its support is needed more than ever at a time when the three-year visas issued to many of the Ukrainians who fled to the UK shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of their homeland are running out.
Among the many services provided, the welcome centre is supporting Ukrainians applying to the UK Government’s Ukraine Permission Extension scheme, which enables them to extend their visa by 18 months.
Paul Martinelli, City Bridge Foundation chair, said: “The Ukrainian Welcome Centre has played an absolutely vital role in supporting thousands of people who have often endured very traumatic experiences before arriving in London.
“We’re really pleased that with our funding, the centre is able to continue to provide not just advice and support, but a place where they can feel at home and where there’s a real sense of community.”
The grant is one of over 400, totalling over £55 million, awarded since October, when City Bridge Foundation closed its rolling grants programme to new applications for a year, amid unprecedented demand and ahead of the launch of its new funding policy, Standing with Londoners.
The new 10-year policy positions the foundation as a social justice funder, with a sharper focus on tackling the root causes of inequality. The first of four new funding programmes under the new policy, Access to Justice, will open for applications in the autumn.
