Information for Leicestershire sponsors

• Sponsor - someone who has assisted with the entry Visa application process for some Ukrainian guests, and who may also then host them when they arrive in the UK.
• Host - someone who is solely a host to Ukrainian guests. A host may be matched with guests due to arrive in the UK, or may be "re-matched" with guests already in the UK.

You can report a safeguarding issue to us online.

Government guidance for sponsors and hosts

Sponsor and Host thank-you payments

Thank you for your kindness in hosting a Ukrainian guest in your home.

All individuals hosting guests from Ukraine can request a thank-you payment. The thank-you payment is £350 per month for the first 12 months a guest is in the country and £500 per month for the following 12 months a guest is in the country.

• The thank-you payment is per accommodation address and all payments are conditional upon successful checks of the property, and DBS and safeguarding checks for all residents over 16.
• Thank-you payments are paid a month in arrears, by the middle of the following month. All payments will be backdated to the date your first Ukrainian guest arrived. You may receive a partial payment where the guest has been with you for less than half a month. 
• To receive thank-you payments you must inform us of the dates that guests arrive and when they leave your property. This is done using the Guest Arrival form through the council's Self Account system - see below for more details on this.
• You must notify us of dates when your guest leaves to prevent overpayment, which you will be liable to return. 

Leicestershire County Council is using the Government 'Homes for Ukraine' grant it receives to increase the payment it gives to host families from £350 to £500 for the months of November to March, in recognition of additional energy costs at this time.

Guest arrival form

Sponsor payments are triggered upon completion of the guest arrival status form, which is emailed to you, which tells us about your guest arrivals and requires the registered sponsor's bank details. This form also triggers the welcome payments for your guests.

You will be emailed a link to the guest arrival form when you have been matched with a guest either through their visa application on when re-matching has been confirmed with us.

Please check junk and spam mail folders, and retain the email for future reference.

You will be able to update it again later when something changes, like another guest arrives or if any leave the property. If you cannot see the name of your guest on the form, please contact HomesforUkraine@leics.gov.uk to inform us.

The form requires registration for a Leicestershire County Council 'Self' account (if you don't already have one):

If you already have a Self account:

• Select the link in the email
• Log in to your Self account as prompted
• The form will load, then you can complete it

If you are registering for a Self account:

• Select the link in the email - follow the prompts to "Sign up". You can also sign up for a Self account here
• You'll be sent a verification email - select the link to verify, then fill in basic information on the Profile form
• Select the email link to the guest arrival status form

When you've submitted the form you'll be emailed a confirmation with a link to update the form if anything changes. You can also do this from the My Requests area of your Self account.

We'll send an email reminder every few weeks, so you don't have to worry about losing the form link.

Support or advice hosting your guests

A welfare visit will be arranged for guests and hosts within the first few weeks of your guest’s arrival.

If you have any concerns at all please get in touch with your support officer as soon as possible.

If you would like some specific support or advice to help you with hosting your guests, please contact us.

Guests leaving your property

When any of your guests leave the hosting arrangement with you, please update your guest arrival form to tell us the date they left - you'll find a link in our reminder emails, or you can access it directly from your Self account My Requests area. Please update information for each guest individually before submitting the form.

If guests leave temporarily for a trip of up to 4 weeks you do not need to update the guest arrival form.

If all your guests have left, you must tell us as soon as possible.

If you require your current guests to leave

If you require your current guests to leave due to some kind of issue, we will need to start making alternative arrangements for them, and for you if you wish. This can take time to arrange so please let us know as soon as possible.

Re-matching with new guests

When your original Ukrainian guests leave your property you can be re-matched with new guests if you wish, or you may choose not to continue to be a Homes for Ukraine host - you can let us know online.