I had a chat with my wife about hosting with Refugees at Home and for various reasons we decided that it wasn’t for us, but I thought I could still help as a home visitor, even if it was intermittent. I was used to carrying out home visits and talking to people about sensitive subjects through my GP work, so it seemed like a logical thing to do.

I find it useful to try to speak to potential hosts over the phone first. There was one person who was away from home for work a lot and I think she quickly realised that she wouldn’t be around if guests needed support. Another hadn’t really talked to their spouse about hosting, and they went away and thought about it and then changed their mind.

When it comes to the home visits I’ve had nothing but great experiences, but it’s important to point out things that the hosts may not have thought of.

There was a retired couple who’d never had children, and their house was sort of Aladdin’s cave of stuff. We were just able to have a conversation about how they wouldn’t be able to host families with young children, but they were fine with that.

Another host had an old house with these awkward stairs so we knew they wouldn’t be able to host someone with mobility issues.

Sometimes the potential hosts have this expectation that they’ve got to put on a five-star service and I remind them when I visit that their guest just needs somewhere warm and safe, and a bed and some food and a leg up to help them become a bit more settled. I always let them know that I’m just a phone call away if they need it.

I’ve just got such respect for the people who volunteer to host. There was one couple I went to see who hosted a Ukrainian woman and they taught her to drive in their car and let her use it. It’s hard not to admire things like that.

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