Cardiff For Ukraine needs £9,000 to help fund visa applications and their new home’s maintenance costs
A CHARITY which supports more than 290 Ukrainian refugees needs to raise £9,000 after being served notice to leave its current home.
Cardiff For Ukraine received a 28-day notice to leave the Capitol Centre by March 2 as plans to redevelop part of the building into a major new entertainment venue were approved by Cardiff City Council on December 11.
The charity has already identified a new home and is relocating to St Andrews Crescent in the city centre ths weekend.
But Helen McAdie, one of Cardiff For Ukraine’s founders, said it now needs £9,000 annually to help cover service charge, business rates and utility costs at their new site.
“It is an extremely turbulent time for our community. We will be helping Ukrainian refugees here for a very long time,” said Ms McAdie.
READ MORE
“We need funding to give us security for the next two years.
“It will also help us to support some of our members in extending their visas, which will buy us time to assess their needs.
“Refugees have been coming here since the war started, and they now hope to stay in Wales permanently. They see no security going back to the east of Ukraine where parts of their hometown are occupied.
“We also have new members who just fled and are helping them apply to jobs while helping to find schools for their children. It is never ending.”
Larysa Martseva, 55, who joined the hub after fleeing from Bucha to Wales when the war started, said: “The hub is not only a physical place, but a therapy project for all of us who fled the war.
“We are here to support each other. We celebrate birthdays and have gatherings here. It’s such as an important experience, especially when moving to a country which most of us did not know well before.”
Ms McAdie said the charity has applied for funding from the Lottery Community Fund, a charity which gives grant money to empower communities, but funding is not guaranteed.
The Capitol Shopping Centre was contacted for a right of reply.
- You can contact the charity via email here.
