Hotels urged to 'step up' and help Ukrainian refugees

Mike Matthews said there was an opportunity for the hotel industry to "really step up"

A hotel owner has appealed to others in the industry to open up their rooms to Ukrainian refugees.

The government has said they can come to the UK and stay with host families under a new visa scheme and is offering £350 a month to hosts.

Mike Matthews, who owns the Prince Rupert Hotel in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said hoteliers needed to "step up".

The Prince Rupert attracted praise during the Covid pandemic for taking in homeless people.

At the time, early in the first lockdown, the four-star, grade II-listed building hosted about 60 people.

Mr Matthews said hotels were "perfectly designed" to provide support for refugees.

He also questioned whether private homes were as well equipped to provide the "safety and security" many of those escaping Ukraine needed.

In his appeal to fellow hotel-owners, he said: "We're called hospitality for a reason."

He called on them to contact the government and their local authorities to offer their services and said he felt something could be agreed "by the end of this week" if the pressure from hotels was there.

Specialist support

He said he was "not looking for money for this" and thought the £350 government payments "should be given directly to the Ukrainians", to provide them with the basics and the support they might need to settle in the UK.

"What a welcome that would be." He said.

Hotel manager Charlie Green said she had been in contact with Shropshire Council to offer rooms to refugees

During the pandemic, Shropshire Council placed a full-time position in the hotel to help people and the Prince Rupert said similar specialist support might be needed for refugees.

The manager of the hotel, Charlie Green, said many of those arriving from Ukraine could be suffering with mental health issues.

"They are not going to know where their loved ones are back home, they're not going to know whether they're alive whether they're safe," she said.

"Just taking someone in to your home, lovely idea... but these people need more."