September 2024 News
The Peace Crane Project
As we described in the July newsletter, we joined the Peace Crane project and we have now found a school to partner with. Scrubbery volunteers and the children of the Oasis Academy folded 1000 origami cranes to make a *senbazuru*. The final (red) crane was folded in a school assembly and all the children wished for peace in Ukraine. Each crane is now being strung on a red thread of life with a gold bead for luck. These cranes will be displayed in the school along with the background story. As part of the Peace Crane project Oasis Academy Putney is partnering with School 73 in Lviv through Rosie’s contact with Nataliya Pipa, a Ukrainian MP in Lviv.
Children at School 73 folding cranes
We wanted to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace on 21st September together with these two schools. Children in Oasis Academy Putney wrote messages on 63 sheets of origami paper, ready to fold into cranes, then unexpectedly we had the opportunity to send these with someone who was driving to the Polish border. The catch? They were leaving at midday and we hadn’t folded the cranes yet. A rushed effort by Rosie and Lindsay managed to get these folded in time for Gillian to drive them to St. James to hand them over. The driver then rendezvoused at the Polish border with someone from Nataliya Pipa’s office to get them to School 73.
Darya and her twin brother are studying in London and her mother Nataliya comes over each month to visit them. This month she bought some cranes folded by the children of School 73. The children from both schools successfully shared an interactive online session despite challenges with electricity, where they shared poems and questions with each other and it was a very positive and hopeful exchange. A small Leadership Team from Year 6 at Oasis have had an interactive session with School 73 and will continue to collaborate.
Darya and Nataliya delivering cranes
Brave Schools Project
In the spirit of the peace crane project, Nataliya Pipa has set up another initiative called the Brave Schools Project. This aims to promote international diplomacy among the young by partnering Ukrainian schools with schools from around the world. Rosie is looking for schools who would like to participate in this partnership. Please get in touch if you know of a local school that would be interested.
Shipments to Ukraine
On both August 16th and September 13th Olga delivered huge shipments to Ukraine containing warm clothing, thermals, shoes, jackets, blankets, rejuvenated foil blankets from the London Marathon, bedding, medical supplies including stomas and feeding tubes, hearing aid batteries, trench candles, camo nets and children’s clothes including the remaining beautiful summer dresses that we made. Special thanks on the trench candles to Tracey, Annie and Pia for their candle factory in Wimbledon, and to family Taylor-Davies for putting up with a kitchen covered in wax.
On September 19th, men’s and women’s warm clothing were delivered to Kharkiv by Medical Lifelines Ukraine, along with a part shipment of scrubs to fill a request from a hospital there.
The next shipment will include a generous donation via Gareth from his friends and neighbours in Forest Green, near Dorking in Surrey.
We also delivered more than 150 drawstring bags, made from up-cycled bed linen, to Wandsworth Food Bank, who use these for hygiene products. They are reusable, saving the Food Bank from having to buy plastic bags and also saving fabric from landfill.
Help Needed
More sets of scrubs are required, following a request from the University Clinic at the Kharkiv National Medical University. This is a multidisciplinary clinical diagnostic and medical institution, which at the same time conducts scientific, practical and educational activities. The scrubs are for the students and clinical staff. Rosie has requested fabric samples from our supplier and will order fabric to make these scrubs. She would be very grateful for any help in laying up, cutting and bundling when the fabric arrives.
Also in the pipeline is a request from a military hospital in Lviv who are looking for adapted clothing for in-hospital wear. This is being organised by Khrystyna in Nataliya Pipa’s office alongside a volunteer, Olha Tymoshchuk, who is the liaison with the hospital. Sample garments are being collected and delivered to us in person and we will assess them to see if we can manufacture these for them, as they are desperately needed.
Library Update
At Oasis Academy, over the summer we conducted a major stock take of all the books in the school, a mammoth undertaking.
We are about to start our next book club, and we are looking for volunteers to read one on one with the children. Reading is the cornerstone of the school’s curriculum, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and a lifelong love of learning. To continue nurturing these essential skills, Oasis need our help. Whether you can spare some time to read with children or assist in the school library, your involvement will make a significant difference.
We are also making more story sacks and if you would like to knit, stitch, crochet or assemble characters for these please do come along. Grateful thanks to Mandy and her knitting group who made the Christmas Story from a vintage knitting pattern that Rosie had been given.
The current story sacks we are working on are for an almanac of Bob the Builder stories and there are others to come.
Wellbeing Bags
We had a couple of lovely thank yous from the organisers of the Paediatric Junior Doctors induction day at Great Ormond Street Hospital where we sent the wellbeing bags recently.
Hello Rosie, I hope you are well. I just wanted to message to say that the bags went down an absolute treat. Thank you so much for all of your efforts once again! Everyone was super grateful and couldn’t quite believe what they were receiving. Thank you so much! Thank you so much once again! 😊😊
Hi Rosie, it was a brilliant day. Thank you so much! So much joy. 🥰 Huge thanks again for everything. You really are incredible, and what you do is amazing!!