The owner of a Cornish holiday rental has been so moved by the Ukrainian refugee crisis that she has decided to donate all income to two charities involved with refugee care.

Mary Chard, whose Packet Quays apartment is rented out with Mawnan Smith based Cornish Holiday Cottages, has declared that all earnings will go to supporting the work of Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families and Refugee Support. Cornish Holiday Cottages are providing the booking and support services for free, as well as waiving the agency commission.

"I think we all need to do what we can to help with the current Ukrainian refugee crisis," says Mary.

The view from Port View, Falmouth.

She continued:

"Initially, I had thought about giving the holiday home to a family but the difficulties in sourcing one directly made me think that an alternative, more practical way for me was to donate the money earned from renting out our holiday home to a charity working with refugees instead.

"During the course of exploring this, I was impressed by how much has been done locally for refugees already, particularly by Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families. Not only have they done excellent work helping two Syrian families who arrived in Falmouth, but they have also been helping families with children settle in by arranging extracurricular activities such as music lessons, outdoor education during the holidays, and academic tutoring. They have set a goal of £10,000 to welcome another family and I want to make sure they achieve this." 

Originally from London, Mary purchased the two-bedroomed Port View in 2017, "because of my love of Cornwall and Falmouth in particular, which I have regularly visited for over 40 years". 

Sunny lounge view at Port View, Falmouth.

 Jude Munden from Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families commented:

"All of our activities are funded through generous local donations such as this and we are so grateful. They fill us with hope and make a wide range of activities possible. 

"Being a refugee means a traumatic loss of home, and people can be profoundly socially isolated and impoverished by the experience. As a charity rooted in our community, Welcome reaches out a meaningful hand of friendship to people of all nationalities. We believe this helps build a more inclusive, kinder, and culturally richer environment for everyone."

Click here to see more from Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families.