BIG-HEARTED Scots are opening up their homes to Ukrainian refugees with 60 offers of accommod-ation from one small Perthshire town alone.

Around 30 businesses in the scenic Aberfeldy area have also offered jobs and nine matches have already been made between homeowners and refugees wanting to come to Scotland.

Despite the obstacles involved in the much criticised Home Office sponsorship programme, the community is now making progress and is hoping to welcome its first refugee shortly.

The whole town is working together after hotelier and pub-owner Gavin Price set up a Facebook page in a bid to help people fleeing the war.

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“It is difficult but we are making progress now and have made nine different matches,” he told the Sunday National. “The paperwork is all getting done and hopefully we are almost there with the first one.”

She is an English teacher from Kyiv, who fled to Poland with her baby then contacted the Aberfeldy team through the Facebook page. She has since been helping other families to connect.

“She has been really helpful and we have a really strong volunteer base here that is speeding up the process,” said Price, who is also manager of Elgin City FC.

“We now have a database of around 60 homes and about 30 businesses that have offered jobs. We’ve got a funding team and an administration team that is pulling together all the information we need. People are giving up holiday homes and rooms in their houses so we are all working together.”

He added: “We have a few contacts now and that snowballs into getting more. It’s not easy as we have to translate stuff but we know exactly what information we need now and having done the first visa we have a bit of experience.”

Price said his advice to others who wanted to help was to keep trying and take a collaborative approach if possible.

“It’s probably harder because we are out of the EU and it is difficult for people to transfer to Scotland,” he said. “The process has its pitfalls but we are hoping to get some good news in the next couple of days.”

Mags Gillan from Tranent has offered to house a couple of refugees in her own home but has heard nothing since she registered her interest on the UK Government site over a week ago, other than receiving a confirmation registration number.

“I am just assuming it is to do with the visas because there seems to be a hell of a carry-on with them,” she said. “It is pretty disgusting because they have been through enough without going through that. You don’t run back to get your passport if a bomb is going to land on your head – it’s not what I would be thinking about.”

She said she made the offer to share her house because she was so horrified by the plight of the refugees.

“I tried to put myself in that position but I just could not imagine it,” said Gillan. “I thought I could give someone a home even just for a wee while and let them feel safe.”

So far out of 66,000 applications for the UK Ukrainian visa scheme, only 15,800 visas have been granted, 0.4% of those who have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24.

There are reports of some refugees returning to Ukraine because of the difficulties in securing UK visas. Some are stuck because their passports are apparently locked in a UK visa processing centre in Kyiv, now closed due to the fighting.

Other countries in the EU such as Ireland and Poland have waived visa requirements for the Ukrainian refugees.

FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has hit out at the Home Office, saying there is still a problem with visa delays.

Andy Sirel, legal director of JustRight Scotland, also told Holyrood last week that the Home Office’s visa-based schemes were “long, bureaucratic and fundamentally insufficient”.

More than 1000 Ukrainians have so far applied to seek refuge in Scotland, according to the latest figures.

The Scottish Government is acting as a “super sponsor” which means any refugees choosing to come to Scotland will not need to name an individual sponsor before they arrive, as is the case south of the Border.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said it was heart-warming that so many people in Scotland had offered to open their homes to refugees.

“However, from the start we voiced concerns that the matching process may be too slow and bureaucratic, which is why we established our super sponsor scheme so we can welcome people here immediately,” he said. “This means people applying for their visa can choose the Scottish Government as their sponsor.

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“We are working rapidly with partners to ensure those arriving get access to the full range of support they require through our Warm Scots Welcome programme. We have established Welcome Hubs to support people arriving at key points with a place of safety and security.

“We now need to see applications become visas granted so we can welcome people to Scotland and give them the support they need.”

A UK Government spokesperson said changes were being made to simplify the visa process.

“We are very aware that many people fleeing Putin’s invasion will not have certain documents with them,” he said. “While such documents can aid the application process, our case workers are taking a compassionate, common-sense approach.”