Mother, 37, prepares to welcome Ukrainian refugee family into her home
‘It’s a privilege’: Mother, 37, prepares to welcome Ukrainian refugee family into her London home after overcoming ‘risky’ red tape to help those stranded by war
- Elsa De Jager, 37, offered a rent-free room at her home in south-west London
- She says she received up to 40 messages within 15 minutes on a Facebook site
- Ms De Jager was eventually matched with an English teacher and her daughter
- Family are staying near western border as they wait for UK visa to be processed
A hotel executive who is welcoming a Ukrainian family into her home spoke yesterday of how she feels ‘privileged’ to help.
Elsa De Jager, 37, said she received up to 40 messages within 15 minutes of offering a rent-free room in her south-west London home on a Facebook site.
She was eventually matched with English teacher Yana Felos, 32, who is fleeing Odessa with her daughter Alisa, four.
The family are now staying with friends near the western border as they wait for their UK visa application to be processed.
If all goes well, it will be granted within days – and they will be able to travel by bus to Hungary or Slovakia before flying to the UK.
Elsa De-Jager (pictured) says she received up to 40 messages within 15 minutes of offering a rent-free room in her south-west London home on a Facebook site
Refugee Yana Felos and her daughter Alisa, four, who are awaiting visa to stay with family in London. They fled Odessa together
Miss De Jager, who lives with her partner Angus Collins and two young daughters, said that the red tape had felt like an ‘identity theft risk’.
But she added: ‘The risk is worth taking to get these people out of there. It feels like a privilege more than anything else.’
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