Cumbria charity campaigner's anguish over plight of street children trapped in Ukraine
Video report by ITV
A street children's charity campaigner says she is "incredibly worried" for the safety of a group of young people trapped in Ukraine.
Patricia Harrison MBE, from Kendal, in Cumbria, founded New Beginnings in 2001 to help street children and orphans in Ukraine after years of working in the country following the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.
She is in contact with a group of 10 children living at a special home founded by her charity near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
She said the workers in charge of the group had told her they could not get out because they had no vehicle big enough, could not get fuel and did not have the necessary papers to leave.
Patricia went on: "At the moment, they're scared. There was bombing at the international airport a couple of kilometres from us.
"They can hear the tanks coming - so they are frightened.
"And last night, they gave us a call, panicking. Should they leave - should they stay? This morning, they've decided to stay.
"It is too difficult to leave - but obviously, they're frightened."
The charity wants to bring the children to safety in Kendal but says the Government's visa scheme is not fit for purpose and should be scrapped.
"These people are not terrorists that are coming," said Patricia. "They are women and children and orphans - and they are traumatised.
"And we are saying they've got to have a visa. It's ridiculous."
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told ITV News that the Government's support package for people fleeing Ukraine was one of the most generous in the world.
He said 20,000 Ukrainian people already in the UK had had their right to stay extended. He added the Ukrainian Family Settlement Scheme was also being extended for three years - which could include as many as 200,000 people under "very broad description of what constitutes family members."
He said the Government was also working on a sponsorship scheme which was "without limits."
An emotional Patricia said the fleeing women and children wanted to go back to their country one day to rebuild their homes "with their bare hands" after the war.
'"And we will help them," she said.
Listen to ITV News analysis podcast on the situation in Ukraine.