Hartford Care Becomes First Named Company in the UK for Ukrainian Resettlement Collaboration

We are honoured to welcome our first Ukrainian team members and their families to join us in a variety of roles under a resettlement partnership with Communities for Ukraine, developed by Citizens UK & USPUK.

Hartford Care becomes the first company in the UK to collaborate as a resettlement partner with Communities for Ukraine and we have officially welcomed seven people and their families to England, where they join us in several roles from care to general assistants.

One of the first Ukrainians to benefit from the initiative is Anna*, who now works as a care assistant at Tegfield House in Winchester.

Before coming to the UK, Anna lived in the front-line Kryvyi Ryh city, Ingulets, next to the Zaporozhye region where there was constant shelling of the nuclear power plant and the Kherson region, where the dam in the Kakhovka reservoir was blown up and the entire city was left without water.

She says: “At the beginning of the war, Russian tanks were stationed around 300 metres from my house. Due to the constant shelling, we were left without electricity, heating, telephone connections, and water. As there was no bomb shelter in the city and it was too dangerous to run to the basement of the house, we hid in the corridor between two walls as our windows were broken from the shelling.

“I lost my mother, father, uncle, and many friends during the war. During this tragedy, my grandmother developed dementia and had to stay with me, meaning we couldn’t evacuate and leave her alone.”

Anna’s son, 17, and her daughter, 5, both spoke English, so Anna began to look for opportunities in the UK. Anna says: “I came across Communities for Ukraine, and they helped me find work with Hartford Care. My grandmother was able to go to a safe place in Ukraine which specialises in dementia, so my children and I were ready to make the move to the UK.

“All our travel was organised by Communities for Ukraine and paid for by Hartford Care and we were met at the airport by the team who then brought us to Winchester.”

Anna – along with all new team members coming over from Ukraine under the resettlement sponsorship – will receive free accommodation, including utility costs for six months, in Hartford Care’s staff accommodation. Importantly, this also includes the team members’ family; in Anna’s case, her two children.

Alongside Communities for Ukraine and Hartford Care, the Diocese of Portsmouth also provided community guide support and integration within the community, in a three-way partnership.

Anna has now settled into life as a care assistant at Tegfield House. She adds: “I am very grateful for this opportunity with Hartford Care, I really enjoy my job and my colleagues are lovely and so helpful and the team is constantly checking in to make sure we have everything we need. The support I have received from Communities for Ukraine has been amazing – they helped my son get a place in college and my daughter a place at school. I want to thank Hartford Care and Communities for Ukraine for saving the lives of my children.”

Kevin Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Hartford Care, says: “I am delighted to welcome Anna and our other new team members to Hartford Care. Becoming the first named resettlement partner is one of our proudest achievements, as it will pave the way for other companies to offer sustainable support and aid to the victims of the Ukrainian war. It’s a significant organisational commitment, but one we’re honoured to make. Working with Communities for Ukraine gives us the confidence to open our homes, safe in the knowledge that every refugee and their family that arrives will be supported to high standards, and we will ensure that the same excellent level of care will continue to benefit our residents.”

Laura Griffiths, Programme Lead for Communities for Ukraine, comments: “The leadership and partnership demonstrated by Hartford Care, working with the Diocese of Portsmouth has been trailblazing and has made a huge difference to people’s lives, as Anna’s story exemplifies. This truly shows the innovative, impactful and deeply important role that caring and motivated employers can take in refugee resettlement in the UK.”

Any employers inspired by Anna and Hartford Care’s story can find out more by emailing ukraine@citizensuk.org

*Name changed to protect the person’s identity.