Countryfile S35E19 - A Rural Welcome Revisit

Ten months on from their first visit, Matt Baker and Margherita Taylor are back in the New Forest in Hampshire to catch up with the community and families who have come together to help Ukrainian refugees. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, nearly 170,000 people have arrived in the UK, with rural communities across the country giving them a warm welcome.

Margherita catches up with a mother and daughter who fled the war to find out how life has been since arriving in rural Hampshire over a year ago. Matt revisits a group of volunteers collecting and packing humanitarian aid for Ukraine and Poland to find out how their operation has changed over the past year.

We also spend time with Ukrainians working on our farms and look at the change in seasonal worker recruitment after the war cut off much of this vital workforce. Adam reconnects with a farmer in Ukraine to find out the impact the war has had on its agriculture since they last spoke 10 months ago.