A SELFLESS woman has flown to Poland to bring aid to Ukrainian refugees, as she said the visas for the family she applied to host were taking too long to be processed.
Mum-of-three Diane Stickland stumbled upon an ad for the Homes for Ukraine scheme a few weeks ago and instantly decided to offer her spare two-bedroom flat.
Diane, a marketing executive from Bearsden, said: “My application has gone to the stage where they’re assessing it, I got confirmation eight days ago, but I still haven’t heard anything.
“I know I submitted everything correctly but the visas have not been issued yet and it’s really worrying how long it’s taking.
“It’s ridiculous. I do appreciate that there are thousands of applications but I don’t think it’s working, they keep coming in and there is a huge backlog.”
After seeing a post on a community page desperately looking for accommodation for refugees, and not having heard from the Government scheme, Diane decided to get in touch.
She made friends with Joanna Barron, a Polish national settled in Scotland, who is working to match refugees in Polish shelters with Scottish families.
She put her in touch with a family of three from Zaporizhzhia.
READ MORE: Glasgow charity says no Ukrainians they have helped have been given sponsor visas
While the southeast Ukrainian city is still standing, Diane heard from the family’s mother that troops had started to surround it and sirens were going off, prompting her to encourage her and her two children to flee.
Now, Diane and Joanna have travelled to Poznan to personally bring some relief to Ukrainians taking refuge there, thanks to £2,700 raised at home in Scotland.
Diane, who is also accompanied by her 17-year-old daughter Anna, hopes the family will be able to meet her there before they leave on Wednesday.
She added: “I would love nothing more than to bring them back with me, but that depends on their visas and I can't see them being ready before then.
“That’s holding them back because they don’t know what’s going to happen.
“Right now they are in their home, the children have got their beds to go to every night, although they listen to sirens going off during the day.
“They are credibly worried about bombs, but they’ve hesitated many times because they are worried about the unknown.
“I've got three children. I cannot imagine what that must feel like where you've got to get on a two-day train journey to Poland and sleep in a shelter.”
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In the Caritas shelter where Diane and her party are bringing assistance, there are currently 40,000 people looking for homes.
A volunteer told her there are four times as many in Krakow, a city of only 800,000.
The 53-year-old is urging more Brits to open their homes to refugees.
Thinking of her own children was what pushed her to take action and seek any possible route to bring a refugee family to Scotland.
“It's been very upsetting what I've seen in the news, and I cannot imagine what they must be going through, it’s just tragic.”
“If people are willing to offer just even a bedroom, that's what they need.
“There are so so many people that want to come here, and there's just not enough places for them to stay.”
Diane’s daughter Anna, who is due to sit her Highers next week, asked to accompany her mother on the trip.
She is now helping support young people her age at the Polish camp.
Proud mum Diane added: “It's really nice. I didn't force her too much, I just said I thought it'd be good for her and she agreed.
“I explained it wouldn’t be a holiday, wandering around the shops and doing the usual, I explained to her that she would be probably chatting to teenagers who are really worried about possibly coming to the UK.
“I hope she'll be able to reassure some people, that's kind of her role here.”
READ MORE: Ukrainian women being offered refuge for sex warns Glasgow charity
Diane thanked the Shawlands community who stepped in to help furnish her bare flat for the refugees.
After seeing similar posts on a community Facebook group, she decided to ask Southsiders for help.
“The response I had was incredible, I had around 400 people offering furniture, food, services.
“I could have furnished four houses but I just took what I needed. It was unbelievable.”
A UK government spokesperson said: “The Homes for Ukraine scheme was set up in record time but we acknowledge progress approving visas has not been good enough.
“The Home Office has made changes to visa processing – the application form has been streamlined, Ukrainian passport holders can now apply online and do their biometrics checks once in the UK, and greater resource has gone into the system.
"This is allowing us to welcome people faster, while still maintaining security checks which ensure those who could pose a threat to our safety are prevented from getting here and human trafficking is assessed.”
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