If possible, please let the team know when your guest is due to arrive. This will help us make sure that the welcome processes are not delayed. These include providing your guest(s) with letters to:
You can get in touch with us by emailing scm@middlesbrough.gov.uk.
We have to carry out a safeguarding check, so we will visit your home at least once to make sure your guest is there and settling in well. To make sure both you and your guest are safe, we will visit at least once every week until your DBS and property checks are completed. If you or your guest find it useful for visits to continue after this, we are happy to do this.
We can help your guest with applying for a bank account and Universal Credit. Once your guest has had their first appointment with the Jobcentre, the DWP will send them a link to apply for a National Insurance number through text message. The DWP can also check documents for a Child Benefit application, as well as help with the application itself.
If your guest has school-age children, we will refer them to the Ethnic Minority Achievement Team (EMAT) to help them find a school place.
We work with Sunflower Sisters, a grassroots organisation, and Pineapple Black, an art gallery in the town centre, to offer a weekly drop-in for arrivals from Ukraine. The drop-in offers an opportunity for hosts and guests to relax in a social environment, ask questions, and access the 'community shop', which is stocked with donations.
Once your guest has arrived and your checks are completed, we will release the £350 'thank you' payment. It will be paid into your bank account after a month. We will contact you to sign a sponsorship agreement form first.
