Rabbi ‘overwhelmed’ with offers from Brits willing to host Ukrainian refugees

Jonathan Romain, whose mother fled Germany on the Kindertransport, has been contacted by more than 240 people offering rooms for refugees coming to the UK.

By Jenni Frazer
  • Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
6 March 2022, 4:40 pm
2HTH644 Przemysl, Poland. 28th Feb, 2022. People are seen crying while hugging after they found their relatives waiting for them at the train station in Przemysl.On the fifth day of the Russian invasion on Ukraine, thousands of asylum seekers arrive by trains to Przemy?l. Each train's capacity is estimated at two thousand people. Credit: SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live News

Rabbi Jonathan Romain has said he has been “overwhelmed” with the national response to his initiative to bring Ukrainian refugees to Britain in the spirit of the Kindertransport.

The minister of Maidenhead Synagogue’s late mother came to Britain from Leipzig, aged just 11 on the eve of the Second World War.

Now Rabbi Romain has teamed up with the charity Refugees At Home and has more than 600 offers — at the time of writing — from people “from Kent to Aberdeen” who are willing to house Ukrainian refugees in their homes.

He told Jewish News: “We think that most of the stays will be temporary, because the expectation is that a large percentage will want to return to Ukraine when the fighting stops.

“But people will come here in a traumatised state, and it will be so much better for them to stay with a family, given some TLC (tender loving care), and shown basic stuff like where the nearest surgery or nursery are”.

Unlike the Kindertransport, which was extended only to children, the Romain initiative will be on offer to Ukrainian citizens of all ages and stages.

Romain, whose local MP is Theresa May — former Prime Minister and Home Secretary — revealed he had spoken to May earlier this week, asking for the right people to contact in the Home Office so that the process would go as smoothly as possible.

She had told him: “We’ll see what we can do”, and he said he was “pretty sure” that the government would soon change the rules on allowing Ukrainians into Britain.

Romain said: “I have four grown-up sons and they have left home. So I had space and I was looking for a way to offer room to refugees. There wasn’t a way to do it — but the response to this initiative has been absolutely wonderful.

“Almost everyone who has written has some sort of back-story, they were related to Kinder, or they spoke Ukrainian, or their family came from Ukraine many years ago. So many people want to help”.

Anyone who is interested in getting involved can email Rabbi Romain at rabbi@maidshul.org

 

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