I am starting a project on 10 September 2016 called “A Roof Over Their Heads”. My goal is to help British Ukrainian Aid and the European Association for the Rights of People with Disabilities in Ukraine to a permanent residence for around 200 Ukrainian refugees displaced by the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

In May 2014, in response to the escalating military activity in Eastern Ukraine, the Association began assisting with the evacuation of people caught in the conflict zone and unable to escape – those with disabilities, their relatives, large families and single mothers with children. With the help of the Association over a thousand of people were transported from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to Odessa and provided with temporary shelter in four sanatoriums.

Two years have passed and these people, many of whom are children, still shelter in the sanatoriums. The sanatoriums are not funded by the government and no longer possess the means to support these people. Each day more of them are told to leave. But where should they go?

The Association has developed a programme to help over 200 people. They rented 3 floors of a 5-floor hostel from the local administration of Radisne village in the Odessa region until 2020. The hostel, built during the Soviet era, needs a major overhaul in order to make it habitable. It will take £51,959.35 to repair the roof, install doors, replace windows, repair the sewer, water supply system and electrical wiring, install heating and new plumbing, refurbish 51 residential rooms, 3 corridors, 3 kitchens, 6 toilets, 3 washrooms and 3 shower rooms. New hostel residents will pay only for utilities, and in the future, they will even be able to privatise the rooms. Longer term are plans to open a garment factory and a production facility for upholstered furniture. This will open up employment opportunities for the residents.

Every night for the next 30 days I will be sleeping in a tent or a sleeping bag on a balcony, garden or other open areas regardless of the weather
conditions. For 30 nights I will be “homeless” and without a roof over my head. I am not going to pretend that I am not scared – I am, as sleeping outside at night on my own is something I have never done before. But I am ready for the challenge as I would really like to help these people, some of whom I have met personally and who are now my dear friends.

This is quite a large project and I am asking all of you to please partner with British-Ukrainian Aid, The Association and myself. Any amount you can spare will be greatly appreciated! Every penny received will go toward the repair of the hostel – the first priority being extensive repairs to the roof to allow construction to begin.