Ukrainians in the United Kingdom consist mainly of British citizens of Ukrainian descent. The Ukrainian immigration to the United Kingdom has been occurring since the eighteenth century.
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History
Although Ukrainians have visited and lived in the United Kingdom since the late-18th century, the first documented evidence of Ukrainians in the UK was an entry in the Aliens Register in Salford of J. Koyetsky from Brody (then Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria) in 1897. Some 100 families settled in Manchester prior to World War I, and in the post-war years a community centre was established. An Information Centre was founded in London and religious and cultural links established with Manchester. In 1931 Bishop Andrey Sheptytsky and Fr Josyf Slipyj, each of whom in turn in later years became head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, made a notable pastoral visit to Manchester. Elsewhere, the first generation of Ukrainian immigrants started arriving in the South-East, in particular, Hertfordshire in 1947 as displaced persons.
After World War II, work-permit schemes issued under the Attlee government (in office: 1945-1951) recruited Ukrainians to work in the mills of Lancashire and in the greenhouses of the Lea Valley (Middlesex/Essex). After a short stay in a transit camp in East Anglia, many went to a displaced-persons camp in Newgate Street Village in Hertfordshire. At the camp, many young people became affiliated to the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, which had its headquarters in London; the Association acted as an important support-network for those separated from their family and friends.
After the end of World War II, more large numbers of Ukrainians (mainly displaced persons from camps in Germany) arrived in the UK. Ukrainians were integrated into the UK as European Voluntary Workers, while Ukrainian POWs from the Polish and German armies were also demobilised and settled in the major cities of the UK.
Population
The 2001 Census recorded 11,913 people born in Ukraine resident in the UK. The 2011 UK Census recorded 20,320 Ukrainian-born residents in England, 380 in Wales, 838 in Scotland, and 245 in Northern Ireland. The Office for National Statistics estimates that in 2013, 26,452 people born in Ukraine were resident in the UK. The number of Ukrainian nationals was estimated at 16,062.
Religion
A large number of Ukrainians living in Britain are Ukrainian Catholics, under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians in Great Britain, whilst many other Ukrainian Britons are Jews.