Honiton: Today marks six months since the invasion of Ukraine, and 31 years of the country’s independence

Today the Ukraine celebrates 31 years of independence from the Soviet Union in 1001, but also 6 months since Russia's illegal invasion begun.

It comes as East Devon is in real need of more host families.

Currently 244 Ukrainian refugees live in East Devon, which is one of the highest rates of refugees in one area across the country.

Cllr Paul Arnott, East Devon District Council's (EDDC) leader, said: "We hope that all our Ukrainian guests are settling into East Devon well, and are proud that so many of East Devon's householders are welcoming them with open arms.

"We hope that, despite the incredibly difficult circumstances, our Ukrainian guests are able to mark Ukraine Independence Day – at a time when they are fighting for their freedom."

Despite the numbers of refugees already accepted, more hosts are needed in Honiton, Cranbrook and Exmouth. In particular need are hosts willing to accept pets, especially cats. Many families fled Ukraine with their pets and are now struggling to find hosts to accept them.

In addition to this, there is a need to find homes for refugees who are already living here, but who need to find a new home after their initial 6 months in the UK.

 Homes for Ukraine is a national government scheme whereby Ukrainians fleeing the war find willing UK based sponsors or hosts to live with, and then come and stay with them for a minimum of six months.

East Devon District Council carries out safety checks on each proposed host home and carries out regular welfare checks. Host families are given a monthly 'thank you' payment of £350.

Cllr Paul Arnott further added: "Thank you to Citizen's Advice East Devon for providing the Welcome Visits, welfare checks, wraparound support and new re-matching scheme to Ukrainian guests and host families on our behalf.

"They are doing a fantastic job and have just scaled up their service to be able to cope with the amount of Ukrainian groups/families coming to East Devon going up from 31 to 120.

"We have also given the Devon Ukrainian Association, who run the Ukraine Community Conversations Café in Exeter, a grant to help them run an event within East Devon to mark Ukraine Independence Day, and other cultural events.

"The scheme is not without its challenges. Including the fact that at the moment due to the lack of an exit strategy from government, we will end up with more Ukrainian guests in emergency accommodation. We are communicating with our local MP and with other Leaders from throughout Devon to urge Government to take action on this and other issues with the scheme."

Dean Stewart, CEO of Citizens Advice East Devon said: "It has been a tremendous honour to be part of EDDC's response to this awful human tragedy.

"We are visiting each household and hearing not just the terrible stories of how people arrived here from Ukraine, but also stories of kindness and generosity that they have experienced.

"We have worked together with EDDC for many years, and that trust and familiarity allowed us to start quickly and to develop processes with them that ensured we could deliver an excellent service to both our Ukrainian guests and their hosts."

You can find out more information about becoming a host here.