Ukraine: Coaches bring 91 refugees to Kent

Families hosting Ukrainian refugees gathered at Hartley Country Club to meet families arriving by coach

Ninety-one Ukrainian refugees with UK visas have arrived in Kent on private coaches as part of a community initiative.

The coaches were booked from Kent with a Polish coach firm, with funds donated by local businesses.

Volunteers helped contact and organise some refugees. Other Ukrainians fleeing the conflict contacted the Coaches 2 Ukraine project themselves on Facebook.

The refugees arrived in Hartley, Kent, from Warsaw, Poland.

Yulia Hampshire, who lives in Medway but is originally from Ukraine, will be hosting a friend and her ten-year-old son who fled Kyiv and got a place on the coach.

"The mum is very nervous and the child will probably need counselling," she said.

"The last few weeks were fine because they were in Warsaw, but it's the beginning of the war that really damaged them."

Ukrainian Yulia Hampshire lives in Medway and is waiting for a friend and her son to arrive after fleeing Kyiv

The coaches will now travel to Poland's border with Ukraine to deliver supplies, including sleeping bags, socks and first aid.

The Department for Levelling Up said advice for travel was on the Homes for Ukraine website.

Among the options for travel, airline Wizz Air offers free flights to Ukrainians with UK Visas in bordering countries, and Eurostar and Stenaline also offer free travel for Ukrainians seeking safety.

Out of 86,000 approved visas, 27,000 Ukrainians were now in the UK, the government said.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].