Chef calls for help in securing visas for Ukrainian refugees
A chef has called for help in securing visas for Ukrainian refugees after more than 1,750 hotels signed up to the Odessa Project to offer rooms and jobs.
Difficulties arranging visas with the Home Office have led the project's founder to ask for support in navigating government policy and applying pressure to see action.
Chef Steven Saunders, of the Willow Tree in Bourn, Cambridge, previously worked in Ukraine and has launched the Odessa Project with Willow Tree owner Shaina Galvin to connect refugees with hospitality businesses wanting to help.
He told The Caterer that discussions with the Home Office were ongoing but that he was hugely was frustrated by the delays after travelling to Lublin in Poland and Ukraine's border with Moldova last week to collect the details of Ukrainians interested in taking up opportunities in hospitality in the UK.
The complications lie in offering accommodation alongside the possibility of paid work, which the current government schemes are not set up to allow for.
Saunders said: "We have worked around the clock to help make a difference. I've begged government to soften the strict rules, I've even reached out to David Cameron for help, but they want us to follow protocol.
"This is an emergency, I keep saying we must cut some red tape or refugees will die. I spent a week with them on the ground and in bus shelters, they don't want our charity, but they do want work and they need money.
"We have homes, jobs and salaries, security and volunteer care. We are not looking at offering long 60-hour weeks, on the contrary we want [to offer] zero-hour contracts with no obligation.
"We want to help people rebuild their lives slowly and gently and we have everything ready to go and will deliver this because refugees are depending on us. I get hundreds of emails from the refugees I met every day - it's very frustrating but we will never give up."
Saunders said the response to the proposal from the hospitality industry has been amazing and he believes that the 1,750 hotels, including national chains, have offered accommodation for 3,000 to 4,000 people.
Saunders can be contacted at thechefsaunders@gmail.com.
Image: The Caterer
