The ‘incredible generosity’ of Britons – and Mail readers in particular – for helping battle-scarred Ukrainian children has been hailed at an international conference.
The record-breaking response to the Mail Force charity’s appeal helped thousands of youngsters who fled the fighting for sanctuary in the UK.
Now a landmark event to support traumatised children has been told of the kindness of our readers who opened their wallets for refugees fleeing Putin’s brutal invasion since February 2022.
Speaking in London, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, of the Ukrainian Catholic church, paid tribute to the ‘incredible generosity of British people who opened their homes and their hearts’.
Iryna Suslova, calling from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office in Kyiv, said the response of the British had helped show her nation’s youngest citizens ‘how we can restore their trust in a world where everything they know has been destroyed’.
Lisa Moroz is thriving at a local school and attends trauma workshops at St Mary’s Ukrainian School in Holland Park on Saturdays
The 14-year-old told the conference in flawless English: ‘I was going to school in Kyiv when my mum said I should gather essentials and go to the bomb shelter. A fighter jet flew over our heads with its thunder. I was shaking.’
Inna Hryhorovych, chief executive of the St Mary’s Trust – which has received more than £1 million from the Mail towards helping children – also said: ‘Putin destroyed their childhoods in one minute. We had thousands of children on our doorstep.
‘We didn’t have funds, and that is when the Mail readers came to our aid, who kindly donated to the Mail Force appeal.Among other schemes, readers’ cash helped pay for 30 bilingual support workers to go into 200 schools where Ukrainian youngsters were struggling to settle.
Among them was 14-year-old Lisa Moroz, who told the conference in flawless English: ‘I was going to school in Kyiv when my mum said I should gather essentials and go to the bomb shelter. A fighter jet flew over our heads with its thunder. I was shaking.’
They now live with ‘a kind and wonderful and gorgeous family in London’. Lisa is thriving at a local school and attends trauma workshops at St Mary’s Ukrainian School in Holland Park on Saturdays, where psychologists teach techniques to youngsters to manage their fears.
Tanya Humberstone, in charge of the support workers, said: ‘These children carry invisible wounds and sometimes they feel lost and scared and can’t concentrate.’
Inna Yehorova, a senior diplomat in Ukraine’s embassy to the UK, said: ‘Thanks to your efforts, you are now true ambassadors of the bright side of history.’
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, called for greater help for the new arrivals, saying: ‘They deserve our loving and caring support.’
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