This week, we’re trying to help a Ukranian refugee called Alina and her new baby.

Alina came to the UK in May, fleeing the war in the Ukraine.

After she arrived, Alina found out she was pregnant. She was living with a sponsor family, but the sponsorship broke down and Alina moved out. She also lost her job around the same time (she was working virtually for a Ukranian company). She used her savings to live in a hotel, but when her savings ran out she had nowhere to go and asked for support from the council housing team. They arranged for a place in a mother and baby refuge, where she lived for four months.

Her baby was born in January and she’s now living in a one bedroom council flat.

Alina doesn’t have any friends or family here. She said: “There are Ukrainian ladies that visit me sometimes, but that’s all.”

The council flat she moved into was an empty shell, with no white goods or furniture. She managed to get some white goods from a crisis centre and some basic items for her baby from a baby bank, but there is so much more she needs.

We’d like to help make this into a proper home for her, and also provide lots of the things she needs for her baby