Community
Spare rooms decluttered for families hosting refugees
Juliet Landau-Pope watched the unfolding refugee crisis in Ukraine in "despair" and wanted to do something to help
March 22, 2022 10:50
Juliet Landau-Pope watched the unfolding refugee crisis in Ukraine in "despair" and wanted to do something to help
March 22, 2022 10:50A Jewish woman has launched a volunteer service to help those signed up to the Homes For Ukraine scheme to declutter their spare rooms so they are as welcoming as possible to families fleeing war.
Like many in the Jewish community Juliet Landau-Pope watched the unfolding refugee crisis in Ukraine in "despair" and wanted to do something to help.
Unable to offer a room to refugee family she decided she wanted to help those who had signed up to the national hosting scheme by offering her services as a professional organiser and declutterer.
Ms Landau-Pope, who is a member of Finchley Reform Synagogue, has managed to bring together more than 60 professional organisers across the UK who are volunteering to declutter spare rooms of anyone preparing to host a refugee.
She launched the website Spare Room Sorted last week and she and other volunteers have already started assisting families who are expecting refugees.
She told the JC: "I and everyone signed up to volunteer do this professionally. We are fully registered businesses and we are insured. We have been helping people make space in their homes for the last 12 years.
"I think a lot of people have had the conversation about the spare rooms they have and worried about not being ready to host or prepared.
"People often don't know where to start but we do and it is a practical way we can help those who are opening their homes to refugees who will be living in them.
"The refugees will have escaped a very traumatic situation and it is important for them to not only to be somewhere that is a safe place but also a welcoming and inviting one."
Ms Landau-Pope, who lives with her 20-year-old daughter in North West London, explained the personal connection she has to Ukraine and the motivation behind wanting to do something to help.
"In 1907 my grandfather Hyman Poberevsky left his village near Kyiv to travel alone to London," she said.
"He was just 18 years old, fleeing Jewish persecution in Tsarist Russia. Two years later he was able to bring his parents and siblings to England.
"In 1938 he went door-to-door in London's East End to find homes for children rescued from Poland by the Kindertransport. Among then was my beloved Auntie Esther who was adopted by my family."
Her team of professionals, who are all members of the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers, are set up to help people from Devon to Dumfries.
While Spare Room Sorted was launched in response to the Homes for Ukraine scheme Ms Landau-Pope said it is also offering help to anyone hosting refugees from other countries too.
"Like so many people I was horrified by what has been happening," she told the JC.
"At first I did all the things everyone else did. I gave money to World Jewish Relief, I booked an Airbnb in Ukraine with no intention of going, and I bought some Ukrainian art off Etsy.
"But you want to do more and I decided this was a practical way that I could help. If we can help to make a difference to a family by helping them to make space for someone else in their home, then it will all be worth it."