#Ukraine 🙏🙏🙏– Part 7 –
25th June 2022
My new heroine is Lucy Easthope. Her full title is Professor Lucy Easthope. ‘She is the country’s leading authority on recovering from disaster. For over two decades she has challenged others to think differently about what comes next, after tragic events. She is a passionate and thought-provoking voice in an area that few know about:emergency planning’
Her latest book ‘When the dust settles’, published in March and was book of the week on Radio 4 from Monday 28th March.
So how did I come to meet Lucy Easthope ? She was one of 5 guests speaking on a webinar hosted last Thursday by the Sanctuary Foundation entitled
‘Supporting Ukrainian Refugees – A Marathon not a Sprint’
There were 5 experts speaking
Rachel Poulton - a seasoned host of refugees from many different cultures
Wendy Jackson - a trauma specialist from the USA
Susannah Baker – founder of The Pickwell Foundation
Tania Orlova - A trauma specialist from Ukraine
Lucy Easthope - Senior lecturer at the University of Lincoln - advisor to the cabinet office on emergency planning. As I wrote above, she is widely regarded as the authority on recuperating from a calamity in the UK.
All the speakers had something valuable to say. We learnt about Ukrainian culture from Tania. Wendy Jackson challenged us to ‘own our emotions’ and to work out our personal red lines rather than hide behind ‘on principle’ arguments. Rachel was kindly and practical and talked about the importance of support networks for hosts. Susannah appeared to be organising such a network in the South West. All were impressive. But it was Lucy who leant into the camera and challenged us to stop ‘nannying’ our guests. What did it matter what time our guests put their children to bed ? That was their business unless it actually infringed on us.
‘Wake up’. I heard her say and then something along the lines of
‘You are not the nanny or an auntie or dutch uncle or best friend. You are a hostel; a temporary resting place on your guest’s journey and the sooner you start discussing plans for moving on, the better. Furthermore you cannot expect your guest to move without quite a bit of discussion and planning, so get on with discussing it. This is not unkind - this is helpful.’
Guess who had said this to me, more than once in the last couple of weeks ? James, my husband. And what is James’s experience in disaster relief ? He was Chairman of RedR in the decade before I met him. RedR UK provides training and technical support to NGO’s, aid workers and communities responding to natural and man-made disasters all over the world.
So chivvied by James I had discussed that scary thing ‘what happens at the end of 6 months’ with Anfisa the week before this webinar…..and guess what ? – it was seismic.
‘What is your planning Ekaterina ?’ I blurted out in the car taking her down to the job centre in Reading.
‘Your can’t stay here for ever’.
She looked at me and then said with some feeling
‘Jane - I am the single mum of a single mum of a single mum. I have brought up my child single handed. I know how to look after myself. I am not going to end up on the streets and I am leaving after 6 months. Please will you stop worrying about me. I will be ok.’
Once I had digested the fact that I was just providing some accommodation - nothing more - nothing less, I felt a load off my shoulders. It was liberating
‘Ok’. I said ‘I hear you – what is your plan ?’
‘I want to live in Reading. I do not want to live in Henley on Thames. It is a pretty place to visit but too expensive to live in. I want shopping malls and cheap offers and transport links. I just need to find a landlord who will take dogs. So I am networking in Reading with dog lovers who may know someone who has a flat’.
‘Well’ I said in admiration ‘That is a good plan – good for you’. And I felt a surge of affection for this gutsy woman, networking with dog lovers in Reading, not prepared to take a cleaning job because she wanted to work in an office, who, right now, was focused on finding a way to get a free bus pass for Reading buses. That is not as easy as it sounds. We live in South Oxfordshire and the money provided for Ukrainians is filtered through our local council, so Reading Council will not give a bus pass to anyone whose host lives in South Oxon. Has Oxfordshire sorted out bus passes - no of course not. But Reading has…..grrrrrrr!!!
This time Anfisa and I are equally frustrated and bonded over the bus pass question. I think we would have bonded over anything having tackled the thorny issue of ‘what next’, sitting at a red light on our way to the Job Centre.
So thank you James and thank you Lucy Easthope - we are getting though this and it feels manageable.
Now all we need is the bus passes - SODC please take note!!
Ends
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