We’re with you! Pictures of hope from pupils to war children
THEY are only words, but they are written from the heart.
From British pupils to Ukrainian schoolchildren, the message is poignant: We are with you.
And these colourful and defiant drawings will not simply be pinned up on a school wall somewhere. They will be delivered to the people of Ukraine.
They are being placed inside boxes of food packaged in the UK and being sent to desperate families caught in Putin’s cruel war.
Already some 100,000 boxes have been dispatched, each containing food for one adult for a week, paid for jointly by the Mail Force charity and the Ukrainian embassy in London.
Now many recipients will also receive an uplifting drawing from a British schoolchild. The idea – the brainchild of Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko – is to share messages of solidarity along with the much-needed food items.
Schools are being encouraged to send in drawings and messages of support to the Ukrainian people.
One school did not even wait to be asked. At Paganel Primary School in Birmingham, resourceful teachers posted a bundle of drawings straight to the company which is packing the food aid boxes in a Leicestershire plant. Oakland International’s chief executive Dean Attwell told the Mail: ‘This giant package of drawings just arrived in the post. They are beautifully crafted and their messages are full of warmth and defiance.’ The pictures were shown to the ambassador who asked for them to be put in food parcels.
Yesterday the Mail visited Paganel school to meet the teachers and pupils who created the artworks, which carry slogans penned in Ukrainian such as ‘Sending love’ and ‘We stand united’.
Head Bethan Gingell said: ‘The children were very scared by it all when they returned to school after February half term.
‘But doing what we’ve done has really helped children to understand that while they can’t make it go away, maybe there is something they can do to help put a smile on somebody’s face, even if just for a brief moment.’ Pupil Berachah, 11, said: ‘I feel no child should go through what is happening to them. Maybe we can help give them just a little bit of encouragement to stay strong.’
The food boxes project is being co-ordinated by the Confederation of British Industry with the support of consultants Accenture.
Mail Force has raised more than £11million since the appeal was launched just days after the invasion. It started with a £500,000 donation from DMGT, the Mail’s parent company, at the personal request of Lord and Lady Rothermere. The charity is paying £4million towards the £8million cost of the food boxes scheme.