Derbyshire couple offer home to Ukrainian LGBT refugees
Sarah Barley-McMullenA former university worker and her wife, who have signed up to host Ukrainian refugees, have said they are particularly interested in hosting people from the LGBT community.
Sarah and Helen Barley-McMullen, from Derbyshire, said they had registered with a small network as well as the government's Homes for Ukraine site.
They said they feared LGBT refugees may face additional persecution.
Homes for Ukraine has seen 100,000 people signing up within the first day.
'Shine a spotlight'
Sarah said: "When you think of the trauma people from Ukraine are going through, it was a no-brainer for us.
"We are happy to give a home to anybody but we wanted to shine a spotlight on LGBT refugees.
"This is a time to look beyond bias and show compassion to the whole person, however they identify."
Sarah, who recently retired from her work due to the effects of long Covid, said they had registered their preference on an LGBT Christian network.
The government website currently does not allow users to specify preferences but Sarah said they had space at their Belper home to offer a family or single person.
Sarah said LGBT people in Ukraine and Russia had suffered persecution and that it was important the UK government recognised that.
"We've got two spare rooms, a single and a double," she said.
"We would happily have a family or friends.
"There was a refugee I saw on the BBC News this morning who said three weeks ago she was at a children's birthday party; now she was waiting to come here and she had no idea where her husband was. That sums it up.
"I'm chair of Pride in Belper so we do a lot of work anyway to bring people and communities together.
"We've got the space and the time. It's not about big, grand gestures. It's about doing what you can with what you have."
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