SUPPORT FOR UKRAINIANS

Repton and the surrounding area has become something of a hub for Ukrainians fleeing the war and we now have around 75 Ukrainian nationals within the local community. Pupils and staff helped out at a very special Christmas meal in School House, attended by over 100 people from the local network of Ukrainian guests and UK sponsors – with Father Christmas (aka the President of Burton Rotary Club) visiting to give presents to the children! It was a fabulous evening of carols (in both English and Ukrainian), traditional turkey with all the trimmings, but, above all, shared celebration at surviving such a terrible year and of hopes for a safer future. As well as their presents, all the children received a photograph taken with

Santa beside the magnificent Hall tree as a memory of their English Christmas; one Ukrainian parent touchingly wrote afterwards, ‘Thank you for giving our children back their childhood.’

A group of young Ukrainians, both Reptonians and local residents, have also been meeting regularly in school to share their experiences and provide mutual support, and there have been sports sessions, social activities and advice on university application.

SABT

Mitre Sleep Easy

The night began with lots of cardboard and duct tape as we all split into teams to build our ‘homes’ for the night, and by the time we had finished, the sun was beginning to set. We then met Paul Taylor, who has worked for the YMCA for many years, helping children my own age to find safe accommodation. Paul went on to tell us about some of his own personal encounters, some of which left me and the Lower Sixth group completely speechless. After this we spent the rest of the evening around a warm campfire with hotdogs and marshmallows before we slowly moved into our DIY shelters for the night. Lucky, we didn’t encounter any rain, which certainly kept us drier but warmer too. We all understood that this re-creation of the night was not going to exactly replicate what a homeless teenager has to endure. However it did give us a glimpse into the hard realities they must be facing every night. The sponsorship that we all received from completing this endeavour – thank you, friends and family! - will be directly transferred to the YMCA to support the work that they do to provide safe housing for local young people. We hope that this may be all it takes to change the direction of a teenager’s life.

Ellie B (L6M)