A Bury grandmother has been delivering a “bit of Christmas cheer” to children living in underground bunkers in Ukraine. Wanda Warrington, known as Wendy, is among a group of UK volunteers who arrived in Ukraine earlier this month to hand over presents to the children.
On December 11, a group of independent volunteers set off to areas in Ukraine, including Irpin and Bucha, to provide children with gifts including crayons, cuddly toys and clothes in time for Saint Nicholas Day, which falls on December 19 and is celebrated in eastern Christian countries. One of the places visited was Saltivka, on the edge of Kharkiv, which suffered heavy missile attacks and where children are still living with their families, as well as an underground metro station.
Children were given presents including chocolate, winter jackets, colouring books and sweets, and even got a surprise visit from a dragon. Wendy, a nurse, midwife and humanitarian aid worker, who organises the visits to Ukraine, said: “My friend Jakub (Sochujko), who is a Polish volunteer from Cornwall but is based in Kharkiv, dressed up in a dragon outfit and was entertaining the kids.”
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“The children absolutely loved it.” We want to be able to spread a little Christmas cheer – it is not going to change the world, but for an hour or two it is going to give the kids a bit of reprieve and a sense of normality.”
A famous children’s character also paid a visit to children in a bunker underneath a school close to Kyiv. Wendy said: “My friend Angie Sutcliffe from Tottington dressed up as Peppa Pig and [her and the other volunteers] were all entertaining the kids as sirens went off outside, and handed out presents.”
Wendy added that, as a grandmother, seeing the children’s eyes “light up” when they received the gifts was a “worthwhile” experience. “Christmas is the most important time for most children and seeing children not have to worry about what is going on in Ukraine for a little while and just being allowed to be children for that short period of time and play and engage with other children makes everything feel so worthwhile”, the 56-year-old said.
“For those children, playing in an underground bunker becomes a norm, but it’s not normal. The reason why I volunteered was because of my grandchildren – I would want someone out there to help them if they were in that situation.”
On December 25, the group have plans to organise a Christmas party for around 300 children in Kharkiv to spread more “Christmas cheer”.
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