The British town that continues to welcome Ukrainians with open arms

A warm summer day. The eye-catching red and white of vyshyvankas. Folk songs and the sight of a bandura, a Slavic lute. Given the unmistakably Ukrainian scene—women ladling borsch into bowls and performing traditional dances—one could easily mistake the setting as Kyiv or Lviv. Yet—not so. This was instead the ‘UkraineFest’ in Swindon, a post-industrial town of 230,000 people just west of London. 

While the Slavic optics may seem anomalous, what is surprising about this event is less the setting and, rather, the large number of local British attendees.

“There’s been a really concerted effort to make sure that people come together” said Kris Talikowski, vice-chair of Swindon Welcomes Ukraine, a civil society group which helps to organise the festival.

“The two biggest ethnicities in Swindon, Poles and Goans, both have their own festivals. They’re full of Poles and Goans. Here, though, it’s a real fifty-fifty mix. That’s great, as it builds awareness and appreciation of Ukrainian culture, all while they’re here integrating and learning about Britain.”

At times, going by media coverage and polling, it can seem as if Western Europe may be experiencing a sort-of ‘compassion fatigue’ regarding the Ukrainian refugees who have settled amongst their neighbours in the wake of the ongoing, full-scale invasion. 

One striking illustration of this ‘fatigue’ can be seen in the reported increases in xenophobia and abuse towards refugees. Yet in Swindon, home to one of the largest Ukrainian communities in Britain, remains as receptive to them as ever. 

“We’ve hosted people before from Africa” said Fay Howard, the current mayor of Swindon. 

“There was more support for people hosting families from Ukraine than there were people from Africa.” 

Following an outbreak of unrest due to anti-immigration protests which occurred last year, “our Ukrainian guests felt vulnerable,” said Fay. All the same, Ukrainian refugees haven’t reported any experiences of racism, “probably due to the colour of their skin.” 

Kris of Swindon Welcomes Ukraine agreed that being white Europeans has given Ukrainians in Swindon a much easier path to integration. 

“Ukrainians are more accepted because they’re white and have a lot of similarities.” 

All the same, it was necessary to make a “concerted effort to make sure that people come together.”

“We’re not trying to turn the Ukrainian community into a British community, we’re trying to get them to publicly acknowledge their roots, be appreciated and feel at home,” Kris said.

“I feel accepted here,” Viktoria Zavalnyuk, who fled her home in Lviv Oblast, told me.

“For a year I lived in a small English village, but I wanted to move to Swindon. It has a very big community.” 

Her enthusiasm wasn’t dampened by Swindon’s sometimes poor reputation as a poverty-stricken, post-industrial place. 

“Lots of people say that Swindon isn’t the best place to live. But I love living here. You have everything you need. I’m quite happy here.”

Amongst the Ukrainians who have fled to the rest of Europe, those in Britain have received some of the highest stipends and broadest public support. A poll conducted by Ipsos last February revealed that 77% of the British public remain highly concerned about the war’s impact on Ukrainian civilians.

Local councils were initially heavily funded – receiving £10,000 per refugee – at the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In Swindon, much of this money has been spent on mental health sessions and healthcare, but also projects organised by civil society groups such as Swindon Welcomes Ukraine. 

“We created Facebook groups to support hosts, provide career advice, give access to schools, and create a guide on how to host Ukrainians. We even created a bikes project, giving bikes to refugees who couldn’t drive,” said vice-chair of Swindon Welcomes Ukraine Kris Talikowski.

“If you don’t build a community and especially one that builds a bridge with the locals, you won’t welcome them.”

Ian, husband to Swindon mayor Fay Howard, has hosted four Ukrainian families with his wife. He believes the experience has been a steep but rewarding learning curve.

“Training? None at all. You learn as you go,” Ian said. 

“When it first started there was an outpouring of help.”

Though, accepting new families into your home for extended periods of time does come with challenges, he acknowledged.

“The first mother and children came during school holidays, so we were all together in the house with the children running about. The mum was struggling with the trauma of leaving Ukraine. We accepted that it was their home; if stuff got broken, that was that.” 

Despite certain difficulties, there have been “so many more positives than negatives,” he enthused.

When the war’s over, Ian and Fay intend to visit Ukraine. 

“We’ve got lots of friends there we could stay with.” 

Yet they will miss the presence of the Ukrainian community. “We’ll lose friends… family members. They’re family,” said Fay.

It may be early for long goodbyes. Many Ukrainians have decided that they will remain in the area. Anastasiya is now a student in Bristol and has never lived in her home city, Kyiv, as an adult. 

“When I go back and see my old friends, we’ve all become so different because I’ve grown up in such a different environment. I enjoyed living in Swindon and there is a big community here,” she said.

The loss of Ukrainian identity for child refugees is an issue that Swindon Welcomes Ukraine seeks to address.

“Some Ukrainian kids have forgotten Ukrainian, so we’re now running Ukrainian language classes for kids to retain it,” said Talikowski. 

“For all intents and purposes, they’ve been British for three years.”

Swindon Welcomes Ukraine’s events such as Swindon’s ‘UkraineFest’ have made Ukrainian culture accessible and known to British locals, as much as supporting the refugees themselves.

“I knew nothing about Ukrainian culture before the war… I just thought [the war] was outrageous and wanted to do something about it,” Talikowski explained. 

“Now, it’s a pleasure to be involved with the Ukrainian community. There are lots of Ukrainian events around the country that do sad and melancholic events and we thought, ‘let’s do something different’ because we have plenty of creative and talented Ukrainians around us. Let’s open the door for English people to enjoy Ukrainian culture and build a bridge between those communities.” 

And Talikowski and the Howards are determined to keep their doors open to their neighbours, regardless of political attitudes.

Is it hyperbole to speak of Swindon as Britain’s most welcoming place to Ukrainian refugees? 

“I don’t think so,” Talikowski said.