A WOMAN who lives on the outskirts of Helston has welcomed a Ukrainian mother and her daughter into her home and is now fundraising for the family to be able to have some independence for themselves.

Marta Eustice, who lives on the A394 Helston to Falmouth road with her husband and daughter, sponsored Tetiana and Kateryna in April under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, after they decided to flee their home, which is in Donetsk in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine.

Tetiana left behind her 27-year-old son so he could fight and brought her daughter here for safety.

Marta, who was born in Poland and has lived in Cornwall for 16 years, says that the support network is, “one big mess” and because Marta and her husband work, Tetiana is often left with nowhere to go whilst her daughter is at school as she can’t afford the busses.

Marta has contacted Cornwall Council for a temporary bus pass for Tetiana, but unfortunately hasn’t been granted the help she wishes for.

She has also started a GoFundMe page to try and raise funds to be able to help them out. So far Marta has raised more than £1,700 via www.gofundme.com/f/mny7g-family-from-ukraine-needs-help with the hopes of reaching £2,200.

Writing on the fundraising page, Marta said: "Like many other Ukrainians they came here looking for safety and peace and trying to start from scratch.

"Tetiana would like to find a job but because where we live this is almost impossible without having a car or some sort of transport as there is no safe walking route to the nearest town and buses are very infrequent.

"Myself and my husband are working full time so Tetiana is trapped at home for the whole day. I have tried to get help with a bus pass from our local council but they said there is nothing they can do to help.

"I want Tetiana to be able to go out and work without having to rely on me all the time. Money will be used to purchase a car and pay for car insurance, which unfortunately is very expensive."

She hopes to throw a barbecue in the next few weeks, as a chance to get other refugees from Ukraine together with Tetiana and Kateryna, so they can interact and communicate in their own language, and the sponsors can also get together.

There is some hope for both families, as Kateryna and Lilly – Marta's daughter – will be attending Helston Community College together, and with the upcoming summer season, there will be potentially some seasonal jobs available for Tetiana, providing she can get her bus pass to be able to commute to the location.