New Zealand-founded initiative Shelter for Ukraine raising money to house refugees fleeing war – Newshub

Work on the 28-metre-long barns is well underway. They were meant to be converted into a school, but now they will be home to Ukrainian refugees fleeing their war-torn country.

"My mum phoned me up the other day and said, 'Why aren't they insulated and why aren't you looking after the people coming from Ukraine,' and we didn't really have an answer, did we," says Shelter for Ukraine co-founder Tristram Shackerley-Bennett.

"So we are going over and will insulate the houses as soon as we possibly can, insulate the school and then get as many refugees there as we can."

Shackerley-Bennett and his Kiwi partner Tamara Jones live in New Zealand and are behind the refugee initiative.

It's especially personal for Jones because she has family in Ukraine. Some of them have fled and one may have been killed - they just don't know for sure yet.

"Hearing stories from them and from family who are still stuck there, it's been pretty heartbreaking," she says.

The couple's barns, bought on a whim during a holiday there eight years ago, are located about four hours from the Ukrainian border - a geopolitically safe distance from the military risk.

They should have been fully restored by now, but when COVID hit, all work and plans were halted. So Shackerley-Bennett and Jones will head back there next week to get the property refugee ready.

But that work costs money - about $132,000 for phase one - and they're asking for public help.

"We have never asked for money before, we have never asked for help before. We have done this completely off our own back for the last eight years and I think it feels really good to finally turn round and go actually this is something that other people can help us with and we are okay about doing it," Shackerley-Bennett says.

Auckland lawyer Sam Moore has been supporting and advising them and a Givealittle page has been set up.

"There's a lot of drive and momentum but wanting to do things in the right order," Moore says.

Shackerley-Bennett and Jones say they have plenty of support on the ground in Slovakia - a team of tradespeople is ready to go and the local mechanic has a minibus organised to pick up the refugees from the border and take them to the shelter.

Even the staunch local mayor has given them his full backing.

"We are thinking of doing this and he was like, 'You have my permission to bring people into the village,' and it's like when he says yes, everything is cool," Shackerley-Bennett says.

"Especially since the village, there's only 1000 people, so to bring more people in, it's really, really good I think," Jones adds.

Shackerley-Bennett and Jones are performers who normally travel the world with their company The Inflatable Church. It's a wedding and festival experience that specialises in unholy matrimony. So it's apt that their latest venture is also all about love - this time for Ukrainians, especially the kids.

"Because it's a school and it's fundamentally designed as a school, it also means we can take families," Shackerley-Bennett says.

"One of the major issues is when kids are displaced, they don't continue with their education. We have everything we need there to be able to teach kids as well."

Their barns have a long and at times dark history - they once housed Nazis during the occupation of Slovakia.

But now with a little bit of Kiwi can-do attitude, they will provide sanctuary for welcomed and wanted guests.

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New Zealand-founded initiative Shelter for Ukraine raising money to house refugees fleeing war - Newshub