Benedict Cumberbatch gives an update on housing Ukrainian refugees: 'I want to give them some stability'

Virgin Radio

26 Apr 2022, 15:18

After signing up for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, Benedict Cumberbatch has provided an update on the family he’s helping out of the conflict. 

The Marvel actor recently signed up to provide shelter to Ukrainian refugees, and while at the London photo-call for his new film, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, Benedict shared what’s happening with the family he’s helping. 

Speaking to the Press Association, Benedict revealed: “They’ve made it out of Ukraine, but I’m monitoring their progress every day.”

The actor then went on to say the family are currently receiving medical treatment, but haven’t yet landed in the UK. 

He added: “I want to give them some stability after the turmoil that they’ve experienced, and that’s within my home.

“And then, from outside, I’ve been trying to help other Ukrainian families and nationals that are UK citizens, to house their extended families en masse, which … is very costly.

“So I’ve been trying to help out with that financially in a couple of instances and working through a wonderful charity called Refugees At Home, which is a great gateway to the Government scheme, but also to offering further and wider support that’s needed for the psychological trauma that these people are suffering from, that they are coming into our homes with and that we’ll need further help with.

“However gentle and generous and welcoming we are as hosts, we don’t have the skills of the mental health profession to necessarily deal with those."

Benedict also urged people to do what they can to help the Ukrainian crisis, before saying he was “very proud of what we can be at our best as a human race”.

Meanwhile, Benedict has also been busy promoting the latest Doctor Strange adventure, will see the return of the cloaked superhero as he deals with not one, but several portals to different universes following the dramatic end to the last Spider-Man film, No Way Home. 

It’ll be one of the most expansive and creative Marvel movies to date, and with the incredible success of the previous Spider-Man adventure, Steven Strange star Benedict has high hopes for his next outing. 

In an interview with Empire, Benedict said of the upcoming film: “It’s going to be an absolute riot. And if it brings off the level of ambition it’s got, we’re going to have a success on the level of Spidey. There you go, I’ll put my flag in the sand.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will hit cinemas on 6th May.