ONE Homes for Ukraine guest, Daria Shypitsyna, said the people of Wiltshire had been a great support.
“In July 2022, my sister, her family and I arrived in Trowbridge. The war, the loss of your usual life and moving to another country caused very serious stress,” she said.
“A different language, different culture, different values, everything is different, even the direction of traffic on the roads is different than we are used to in Ukraine.
“We have incredibly good sponsors who help us as much as possible. We call them our English parents, because they really care about us as their children.
“We registered for an ESOL course at the college and the children went to school – they are really happy now. I have a job and I also volunteer at the Library every Saturday.
“When I was accepted as a volunteer, I was happy, because it was my first success in a new place. I’m very thankful that they believed in me and gave me this opportunity to help at the library.
“Helping out there made me more confident, made me feel like a part of the community and made me happy when I could do something for it.
“I am so happy when people come up to me and ask me something, and I can understand them and help them.
“I am very pleased to see books in Ukrainian being added to the library, and that my knowledge of Ukrainian can also be useful. For me personally, the time spent in the library is always a time of relaxation, where I forget about the outside world and the stress I face.
“Thank you for helping our people, thank you for supporting us, thank you for trying to make our integration into a new life as comfortable as possible.”

People can find out more about the ESOL courses by going to familyandcommunitylearning@wiltshire.gov.uk or by calling 01225 770478.