From Ukraine, to Eastwood, to BBC One. The journey of a very special painting

When The Repair Shop began the new series on TV a few months ago, Maria Kirk, a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Eastwood, arrived at "the barn" with a painting in a very damaged state; as the story unfolded, the damage was explained

The Madonna and Child dates back to the 1890s and belonged to a Ukrainian Catholic priest, Father Joseph Bilinski, who was Maria's grandfather. The painting had been given to Fr Joseph by his father, who was also a priest, on the occasion of his ordination. It hung in Fr Joseph’s parish Church, located in a small village in western Ukraine. Fr Joseph, his wife Halyna, and their children (Stefania, Roman, and Irena, who was Maria’s mother), managed to survive the first world war and enforced famine. Fr Joseph died before the start of WWII, and as the war came closer the family decided to flee to Poland in order to escape the Russian army; before they left their home they took one special item with them.

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They removed the canvas from its frame, rolled it up, and stitched it inside a winter coat Apart from a few photographs, this was the only item they took with them

The family were captured by the Nazis and taken to a labour camp in Poland where they were forced to wear blue patches on their clothing marked "Ost", short for "Oster arbeiten", meaning "East European Slave Labour" They were moved to various camps and eventually taken to Germany, where Halyna, Maria's grandmother, tragically died of exhaustion and starvation.

Stefania and Irena managed to survive and keep the coat with the painting inside it They took turns wearing it and somehow the guards never suspected anything

When the war ended and the camps were liberated, Stefania decided to stay in Germany, and as she was the eldest she kept the painting Irena did not want to stay and decided to come to England Sadly they never met again, and Irena never saw the painting again

On reaching England Irena was sent to a transit camp in Nottinghamshire The camp became home for many displaced persons, especially Polish soldiers who had fought alongside the British army It was in the camp that she met Roman Wyrobek and they married and had one child, Maria Irena died in 1989 Eventually after the fall of communism and the Berlin Wall, Maria managed to trace her aunt Stefania in Germany, and visited her quite a few times The last time they met was just before Stefania died in 1994 but before she died she gave the painting to her and told her she was the custodian of it

After many years of being unsure what to do with the very damaged painting, Maria applied to The Repair Shop, a TV programme in which follows the story of special items in need of repair and restoration, and was accepted. Last year she took the painting to the barn to be repaired by Lucia Scalisi the art restorer, who explained that it had not just been rolled up but flattened and folded and that it was nothing short of a miracle that it had survived. The repair and restoration work left many viewers very emotional as they saw the picture returned to life and Maria's reaction. So many viewers said that the painting of the Madonna and Child just seemed to draw them in, it radiated such peace, hope and love.

The picture has now been framed by specialist framer in London, Derek Tanous and Maria is looking forward to being reunited with it for a while, but hopes eventually to return it to Ukraine, as she explained, very simply the painting needs to go home, she is only the custodian Because of the great interest in the painting and its story, so many people have asked if they may see the painting so it will be available for people to see, and the details will be on Our Lady of Good Counsel (Eastwood) parish website

With thanks and image credit to Maria Kirk, BBC and Tanous Fine Art Frames

MY MOTHER DIDN'T WANT TO PUT IT [THE 'OST' PATCH] ON THE COAT, BUT MY GRANDMOTHER SAID TO HER: "PUT IT ON, IT'S NOT WHAT'S ON THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR COAT THAT MATTERS... it's