История UFUF...

На этой страничке мне бы хотелось рассказать о работе моего благотворительного фонда корорый называется "Обьеденились для украинских семей", или же United for Ukrainian Families   на Английском. Фонд был создан в сентябре 2014 года и проделал не много но успел помочь более чем 20 семьям. Задача пока такова - поддержать семьи где на войне, ранен или убит член семьи в которой находятся дети - это в первую очередь. Бюджет - ноль, поэтому средства собираю как могу. Первое мероприятие - распродажа б/y  игрушек. Я собирала их от знакомых и друззей, храня в своем доме, в своей машине, в машине мужа....

На ярмарке так же проходил аукцион, местные бизнесы с удовольсвтием давали маленькие подарки для лотарейных былетов. Туда входило самодельное мыло, парфюмерия, конфеты, вино и даже бесплатная стрижка что в Англии не дешево.  Ярмарка прошла очень успешно. Игрушки разошлись, оставшиеся были проданы по интернету.

Было приятно видеть поддержку британцев и незнакомых мне людей. О ярмарке написали даже в местной газете

Следующим мероприятием стало новогоднее развлечение для деток.  Они учились вырезать сенжинки, делать игрушки на елку, рисовать открытки. На мероприятии был фотограф, который не пожалел своего времени для благотворительности. Дети фотографировались со "снегом" под елкой. Все это входило в цену билета, деньги с которых полностью пошли на благотворительность

Огромную благодарность так же хочется выразить талантливым деткам Великобритании, которых я попросила бесплатно спеть новогодние колядки, организовав мини концерт для благотворительности.

Пришла пора подумать о логотипе. И снова, совместными усилиями мы пришли вот к таким зайцам, которые передают, на мое мнение всю суть нашей задачи.

А позже, и вот такие замечательные зарисовки, которые уже воплотились в реальность и чашка с логотипом фонда уже успела попасть  в британский парламент.

В Украине же талантливый мастер сделал свои варианты чашечек, которые были проданы на аукционе в Америке, все вырученые деньги пошли на благотворительность

Вот такая работа была проделана фондом вместе с Вами, дорогие друзья, волонтеры и все все все кто принимал участие в наших делах. Год закончился, проблемы к сожалению нет. Я продолжаю работать над новыми проэктами и надеюсь на вашу поддержку. В следующем блоге обязательно напишу больше о семьях  и детках которым мы помогли, а пока только прилагаю список... 

United for Ukrainian Families - our heros

I would much rather write about the beauty of Ukraine and business ideas, but unfortunately there is still a war in eastern Ukraine and my heart is with those who suffered one way or another in this unnecessary conflict. Some of you have already seen that I have set up a charity, here in the UK, called United for Ukrainian Families, the aim of which is to help individual families with children affected by the war. I had a very warm response to the charity's aims and goals and raised money for the following families.

 Meet Masha and her little baby daughter Albina. Masha is only 18 and her husband Vadim who will shortly be  back at the front line after suffering a major injury and currently recovering in hospital

 

 

So with Vadim back to the front line at the beginning of November leaving Masha and Albina to survive on vertically no income. United for Ukrainian Families (UFUF) has sent some money to a volunteer in Kiev, Illona, who will help this family with some basic needs for the baby. This is an invoice for the items already purchased.

 

 

 

 

 However, there are others who are less lucky... Little Varia, 3 years old on 26 of October will never see her daddy again. Her mum, Anastasia Rudenko, has thanked me for the offer to send money but instead asked me to send it to the families that are in more desperate need, as they have great support from friends and relatives. The picture of little Varia and her hero Daddy always makes me cry

 

I could not ignore the little girls birthday and bought her some presents and clothes which are on the way to Lviv region at the end of this week.

 

Some families do not have much support at all... With the father being the only one to work and support, loosing him makes life a real struggle. Natasha is one of them. On the 18 of March she had a healthy baby boy and her husband Vitaliy had been the proudest Daddy ever. On the 24 of March he left to defend his country. In his short visits home he dreamt of the bright future for him and his son Egor, he held him in his arms and could not believe his happiness of having a boy... He was killed on 3 of September in Luhansk region...  This is the last picture of Vitaliy and his son. RIP hero...

 

 

UFUF has arranged for a parcel and money to be delivered to Natasha and little Egor.

I am planning to organise many more fundraising events and help as many families as possible.
Thank you to everyone for your sympathy and support.

 



 



My Ukraine has not only got a beautiful landscape ( see other pages of my blog), but is also home to extremely talented people and many unique and wonderful business ideas. In this brief note I can only mention a few of them.. Let's just take Lavichuza Enamel for example. Beautiful items...

They are trying to break in to the UK market. The owner of a local jewellery shop here in Canterbury greatly admired the enamel work and loved the items. He would be only to happy to display the arrangement in his store, so we are working on the way of getting this beauty to you.

Some Ukrainian business ideas are just quirky and funny.. See the one below for example.  Sounds familiar but means... an old grand dad Panas lol

Joking aside, sales of the t-shirt supported the fundraising event in London by donating items to charity fair.



Some Ukrainians, however, have made it! I would proudly introduce a young Ukrainian start up entrepreneur, who is not only a Ukrainian lady, but has also brought Ukrainian products here to the UK. Please welcome "BrightSurprise", made in Ukraine 100% cotton baby clothes

Kaatya , the owner of the business, has visited the factory in Ukraine and guarantees the quality of the product. It is a new business and a web site and online shop will be coming soon. We are, however , both ( as business owner and accountant) are very excited and happy to share this news with you

Thank you for reading and God bless x

Ukraine... To me this word means a great deal but to others...Not long ago it was seen as just one of many countries which emerged from the break up of the Soviet Union, many people unable to locate it on the map. Nearly everyone is aware of Ukraine now - a country of patriotic determined people, who no longer want to live in a desperate corrupt society but instead as a free and law abiding nation building trading links around the globe.

However, I would like to begin with my village, a beautiful little treasure, once a holiday destination for people across the border - Russians....

We pick mushrooms in the forest, we fish in the river and children pay freely and walk to school on their own, sometimes over a two mile distance. There are no bus services within the village and not every family has a car.

People keep pigs, chickens, goats and cows and work on their own vegetable plots to have food on the table.

But village life was great. There is a great sense of community and tradition and all that goes with such  a place - the gossip, the love affairs and friendship forged for life.

  There is also a sense of freedom. It is the on of a few places on Earth , where you can escape to be on your own for a while - to dream...

I would just like to touch upon Ukrainians here, in the UK..

We come to the UK to grab the opportunities, not the benefits. We respect the culture and traditions of the country we live in and try (desperately lol) to understand English humour and be part of the community. We want to fit in, not to create our own towns.

We are united here in our strength and in our sympathy. It amused me on 24th of August when inspired by the thought that I could actually help Ukraine, I went to London to support a fundraising event . All I could do was to be there and to bring some biscuits, which seemed so little, but there were a lot of us and as you all know : " every little helps..."

I remember the mad preparation in the kitchen, where all the traditional Ukrainian dishes were being prepared, I walked into a well organised group of girls and said, hi, just let me know what to do as I am new here, to which their reply was : "we all only met last night..." That day, we raised over £3,000...

Amazed by how much each of us can do, I set up a charity United for Ukrainian Families. The first fundraising event successfully completed, despite all the hassle that came with it ( donated toys were stored in my dining room, in my car, next door neighbours garage).

The money raised is going to be used to help some of the most vulnerable families who suffered directly as a result of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.