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homes are ready for them and we are looking forward to welcoming them to safety and sanctuary. it must be very frustrating, for you and them, of course. in terms of where they come from, you said they are coming from chernihiv which was under intense russian bombardment until the russians suddenly withdrew. you have a lot of experience of war zones, so i'm sure that will give you a certain level of empathy and understanding in terms of how to respond to what their very specific needs will be. has there been any kind of guidance from others in terms of addressing the needs of people coming to this country who will have been through horrendous experiences? there are support mechanisms which have been put in place. i'm talking about norfolk, so norfolk county council has its people from abroad team, and as soon as the two that we are expecting arrive here, i will be in touch
but they've hit the bureaucracy that many others have complained about. well, a lot of people in this country have decided they would like to do something for ukrainian refugees. many people are sponsoring them, and my wife and i are sponsoring two people who came from chernihiv, which was heavily shelled and occupied in the early days of the campaign. they made their way along with many others across the ukrainian border into poland, and there they were contacted by the editor of the eastern daily press, which is our local newspaper in east anglia. a group of six are trying to make their way to norfolk. the disappointing thing is that the home office scheme, homes for ukraine, is such a complicated and long—winded bureaucratic scheme. it is a nine—page application form. every individual member
with norfolk county council. they know we have two coming here, they want to know as soon as they arrive, and the various support mechanisms they will offer to assist. fortunately one of the other couples coming to norfolk speaks very good english so it will be much easier to communicate with those coming here because one of them can speak english. one of the people who works for my wife lived in russia for a long time so she will help the communication, albeit russian and ukrainian are different languages but not that far apart. but the boy who is coming here is in his teens and he has learning difficulties, and he and his mother spent a month living in their basement being shelled some time ago, so he will need a lot of reassurance, a lot of calming down and a lot of help. but really, that's why people up and down our country have been offering support and sanctuary for ukrainians. ijust wish the home office process was more speedy, less complicated and that we could bring more people
of the family has to fill in this application. given that some of the people trying to come here are aged two and three, some of the questions they are being asked are totally inappropriate. the home office has designed a scheme which is too complicated and bureaucratic, and they are understaffed to be able to process their own system properly, and many people including my wife and i are getting very frustrated at the slow speed. the six i am monitoring have got as far as dunkirk. they have a local norfolk man with them, and i heard on saturday all of their clearances and applications have been approved, and i am just waiting to come through my e—mail the letter giving authorisation for them to travel. i was promised it on saturday, yesterday was sunday, today is monday, i still haven't got it, but as soon as the letter comes they will be able to make their travel plans and come here in norfolk where
Norfolk Day on Cromer beach and pier - Credit: Archant Already dozens of events across the county have been announced in the run-up to this year’s Norfolk Day. The annual celebration takes place every year on July 27 and is spearheaded by the Eastern Daily Press, Norwich Evening News, and BBC Radio Norfolk. Richardson's chief executive, Greg Munford - Credit: DENISE BRADLEY/Archant2021 And for 2021, it has welcomed back Richardson's as its headline sponsor. Shouting about all things that are great about Norfolk, this year the special day falls on a Tuesday and we will be encouraging anyone who wants to hold an event to do so either on the day, the weekend before, or even during the days that follow.