Joanna and Richard first started hosting with us in 2022. Although they had previous experience of opening their home to strangers, their first placement didn’t work out, leaving them concerned about hosting with us in the future. Despite the rocky start, their next placement was a success, and the couple are still in touch with their guest to this day.

“I remember reading about Ukrainian refugees in The Guardian and I thought that we should be doing something,” said Joanna. “I also felt that the spotlight on that conflict meant that other groups of refugees weren’t getting as much attention.”

“Hosting wasn’t a new experience for us,” she said. “We’re used to having people we didn’t know in the house and giving them our front door key.”

For 20 years, the couple have been members of Servas, an organisation that uses homestays to build peace and cross-cultural understanding with people from around the world.

Despite being well prepared, they found themselves in an unlucky and unfortunate situation. A miscommunication over food safety escalated into a row, and their first guest left their home, ending the placement early.

“We were absolutely mortified, and didn’t expect to hear from Refugees at Home again, and then in the new year they called and asked if we’d take another person.”

Their next guest, Ali, was in his 20s and from Libya, and in the end, he stayed with the couple for 10 weeks.

Joanna said: “He wasn’t alone and had people besides us that could support him; a case worker, a brother he’d arrived in the country with. Often when he was cooking a meal, he’d be on a call with his relatives in Libya who’d be telling him what to do!”

While their first placement ended prematurely, Joanna and Richard are still in touch with Ali to this day.

“He still phones and visits us. He came back to see us a little while ago because his mother has an issue with her heart, and he was worried about her health. Since Richard also has heart problems, he’s been able to talk things through with him. He’s always got a base to come back to if there’s anything he wants to discuss, or just to say hello.”

Since Ali stayed with them, they’ve gone on to host a third guest, and are open to hosting again in the future.

“Our guests have all been very different people,” said Joanna. “You find ways of getting to know what they like and what they want to do.”

“Things go wrong from time to time, and you can feel very self-critical when they do, but you just have to accept that.”

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