Registered for Homes for Ukraine - But how to Make Contact?

jumeriah64

I can find lots of details of the Vodaphone and Three offers for Homes for Ukraine but not details of the means to get to them.

There appears no obvious 'in' to a charitable route. I'm sure there is but it's not jumping off the page just now. 

Also contacting Vodaphone and Three does not appear as obvious as it might be either. I'm on a page on Vodaphone with an explaination of TOBi, their robo - chat bot. But it's flagged constantly as 'chat in progress' ..... not exactly connected stuff. 

If anyone knows a charitable route to get an 'in' or indeed how to connect to the Vodaphone chat bot etc I'd be grateful of information. Not getting so far here. Concept? yes .... actual contact and progress? No.

jumeriah64

Think I found it.

Spoke with our Vodaphone shop. Not a clue.

In fairness, they rooted around, asked a bloke who knew another bloke and then came up with a search phrase. it wasn't right but it was near enough to work it out. Here it is .....

https://www.refugease.org/vodafone-sim

About to fill in details. It seems very straightforward. Maybe useful to others going forward

CKhalvashi

Well done!

I was going to suggest contacting your Parish/Town/City council to discuss if you couldn't find it but you'd beaten me to it. I'm in close contact with our local council as a Russian (with smattering of Ukrainian) speaker and the support network is there as required.

Do you need a handset, just a charger and SIM or just a SIM? If you need a handset, CEx (we have one of these shops, others are available) may be a good route to go for it. For chargers, my charger broke (meaning the bit that goes into the wall, the cable was fine) last year and I managed to pick up 2 on Amazon for about £10, perfect as I'd bought the phone when abroad (funnily enough in Ukraine) so only had the European adapter out of the box.

A quick look online suggests an iPhone SE (which I believe are still on sale and supported) can be had for as little as around £60. Any Android device will work perfectly too. If you want new I have a Samsung A31, end of line and paid around £130 for it ex-display (but it had never been turned on), but anything comparable at the time was around £200 in the UK, so it seems prices can be quite high here. I'm not sure my phone was ever available in the UK but just wanted to give an idea of pricing, this was last June.

It should be under UK/EU law, but make sure anything you buy is unlocked to save the hassle of dealing with this later on.

jumeriah64

CKhalvashi said:

Well done!

I was going to suggest contacting your Parish/Town/City council to discuss if you couldn't find it but you'd beaten me to it. I'm in close contact with our local council as a Russian (with smattering of Ukrainian) speaker and the support network is there as required.

Do you need a handset, just a charger and SIM or just a SIM? If you need a handset, CEx (we have one of these shops, others are available) may be a good route to go for it. For chargers, my charger broke (meaning the bit that goes into the wall, the cable was fine) last year and I managed to pick up 2 on Amazon for about £10, perfect as I'd bought the phone when abroad (funnily enough in Ukraine) so only had the European adapter out of the box.

A quick look online suggests an iPhone SE (which I believe are still on sale and supported) can be had for as little as around £60. Any Android device will work perfectly too. If you want new I have a Samsung A31, end of line and paid around £130 for it ex-display (but it had never been turned on), but anything comparable at the time was around £200 in the UK, so it seems prices can be quite high here. I'm not sure my phone was ever available in the UK but just wanted to give an idea of pricing, this was last June.

It should be under UK/EU law, but make sure anything you buy is unlocked to save the hassle of dealing with this later on.

As it goes I had not checked but they do have their own handsets already so that's sorted. And the link does look promising. Just about to complete it for them now.

They are Apple folks so I can't help them with any peripheral kit there but we have adaptors somewhere which I'll dig out. It looks like basically zero spend and they should be up and running. 

I wish they would make the links for these things a little more visible. it's good PR and after all no-one is going to be able to use who hasn't got the the right credentials. Anyway we got there in the end. Cheers

CKhalvashi

Ukrainians are fleeing war, not poverty
(Not a dig at you, just highlighting that having a decent phone does not mean that someone's life is not in danger)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-Rekavin-Adapter-Compact-Charging-1A-USB-Plug/dp/B09NTYMTPB/ref=sr_1_7_sspa?keywords=apple+usb+power+adapter+uk&qid=1650751234&sprefix=apple+usb+uk+adapter,aps,139&sr=8-7-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzRktKMDExV0VQVUk2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTg3OTM1MkhaVUZZSjI3MTdOMyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzA1MzYzMjRFQVFSTUg5UVEwRiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

Always funny about buying electronic items online, but from experience, Rekavin products are ok. They manufacture some of the manufacturer approved electrical parts for specialist equipment we use at work.

If you need help with specific model requirements, just ask and I'll find out as Apple are known for using different chargers to everyone else, however this should fit all USB chargers, which I assume (but am not 100% sure) includes the latest Apple gear.

CKhalvashi

From Facebook (but a verified group and source I trust)

Information post;

CONFIRMED INFO (I called the RED CROSS)

The British Red Cross is giving £50 financial support for the Ukrainian Guests and a choice of 2 free sim cards.

Please direct your guests to the British Red Cross Support line number 08081963651 open daily between 10-6pm.

They must be applied for within the first 14 days after arrival and it must be the guest themselves not the host (they have translators ready).

Call the above number select option 3.

Red Cross will complete a form.

Form will be emailed to you to check and you return with photos of: photo passport page, visa, date of entry stamp.

A preloaded credit card to a home address by mail within 24-48hours but may take longer as they are busy.

Can request one of two types of phone card at the same time:

Vodafone - free calls, texts, 20gb data for 6 months (UK only)

Tesco - 3 months of free calls to Ukraine, 1000 minutes of calls in the UK, 5000 texts and 8GB data.

jumeriah64

CKhalvashi said:

From Facebook (but a verified group and source I trust)

Information post;

CONFIRMED INFO (I called the RED CROSS)

The British Red Cross is giving £50 financial support for the Ukrainian Guests and a choice of 2 free sim cards.

Please direct your guests to the British Red Cross Support line number 08081963651 open daily between 10-6pm.

They must be applied for within the first 14 days after arrival and it must be the guest themselves not the host (they have translators ready).

Call the above number select option 3.

Red Cross will complete a form.

Form will be emailed to you to check and you return with photos of: photo passport page, visa, date of entry stamp.

A preloaded credit card to a home address by mail within 24-48hours but may take longer as they are busy.

Can request one of two types of phone card at the same time:

Vodafone - free calls, texts, 20gb data for 6 months (UK only)

Tesco - 3 months of free calls to Ukraine, 1000 minutes of calls in the UK, 5000 texts and 8GB data.

Excellent steer CK. We already made the request but will make them aware of it all the same. Good advice.

Oh not, it's not a comment on materialism.... about the handsets that is. I just don't major in Apple stuff.

Got an Apple TV box which is impressive but just don't buy into the Apple infrastructure and business model personally. These folks do and all good for them. They did not seem concerned about the cables. i think they have them, and we have power adaptors. It's purely that we are well equipped with cables and boxes for Windows world, Android, a lot less so the Apple world.

jumeriah64

Just to stress this key point in speeding up Visa applications that have gone slow. This definitely works. I can vouch for this personally..... I'm surprised no-one has replied or followed up on this. ....

What you need to do, is to have your MP (or more likely an admin in said office) take a walk over to the 'Home Office Casework Hub' in Parliament and quote the GWP numbers your applicants will have been issued.

This seems to be the key thing. Essentially, your MP can visit a desk and rattle specific GWP's and shake a result out. 

Each MP has a limited number of calls/visits they can make. It's not endless but they do have it. And it does work!

Make yourself heard by your MP. They will indulge in email pleasantries which loose time. I did the same. It felt the right thing to do. But make sure you request them to do the bolded type instruction above.

Also I'm not having or using Facebook or social media of any sort, just specific forums for specific things. Anyone who does have and use social media, please use this data and distribute. It's not hearsay. But it is now a few days old. 

Vegastare

Sorry if this has been posted already - but anyone wanting future info https://www.sanctuaryfoundation.org.uk/

If have seen several folk interviewed on TV even this morning and this is were they linked up

skintus_mcgintus

Thanks so much for this thread - some excellent advice, really useful.

Sorry if this is repetition but…. 

Is there any MSE forum thread for money-saving & logistics help on sponsors taking part in the Homes for Ukraine scheme? I’ve searched for it, but I haven’t stumbled across anything this far (apart from this thread of course)