For decades, there has been a strong Ukrainian community in Notts, organising events and fundraisers to keep their culture and traditions alive. As such, Russia’s 2022 invasion of the country made our city an obvious destination for many refugee families. As we pass the invasion’s fourth anniversary, members of City Hub Ukraine and the Ukrainian School Band talk about supporting the diaspora and people caught up in the conflict…
Eight days after Russian military forces entered Ukraine in February 2022, husband and wife Maksim and Hanna packed all their necessities into a bag and left their home in Odesa. The couple, who are wheelchair users due to their disabilities, headed for the Moldovan border, along with Hanna’s parents, unaware of what the next few weeks or months would hold.
“It was becoming too dangerous for us to stay,” says Hanna. “Everything was moving very fast and it was unpredictable. I barely can even remember those days.”
“When we got to Moldova a very kind family allowed us to live with them, and we spent five months with them until we got our UK visa.”
“When you’re starting your life from scratch you realise how necessary it is to have the kindness of people. We’re so grateful for all the people we’ve met, just giving us places to live or supporting us with different things.”
It’s this generosity of strangers that’s helped the pair navigate their new life – first in Moldova, then in the UK. They found themselves in Nottingham in early 2023, after struggling to find suitable rental accommodation elsewhere.
“It’s next to impossible to rent anything if you’re a family of four adults, with two wheelchairs, and you’re a refugee,” adds Maksim. “Nobody wanted us.”
But they found an already established community in Nottingham who were supporting each other to access services, medical supplies, or accommodation. Now they say the city feels like home.
“We didn’t have anyone in this country – no relatives or friends,” said Hanna. “So it was scary and new for us, and especially with our disabilities – it was even harder. The war is not stopping and right now we’re happy with our lives here. We’ve settled down.”
“We feel very safe here,” Maksim adds, but more than anything the couple long to be reunited with their friends who have taken refuge in Germany and Canada – and their family who stayed in Ukraine.
They were ripped out of their environment and put into this new, completely strange world they didn’t know anything about
“Everyone has different reasons for staying. They didn’t want to leave and we do worry for them,” Hanna says. “I don’t know when, but I hope we will have a chance to see them again in future.”
They credit Nottingham couple – Ann and Stuart Vickers – for “saving them”. They were already doing a lot to support Ukrainian families and found Maksim and Hanna somewhere to live.
In 2022, the Vickers saw the start of the invasion on their television screen and felt empowered to volunteer. Without hesitation they joined a local Ukrainian-born businessman who was gathering donations to fill lorries heading for Ukraine.
“We couldn’t believe what was happening in Europe,” said Ann. “People were cramming onto trains and trying to get out of towns and cities as the aggressors moved in. We had some free time and just went into action.”
But even after a week passed and those lorries had gone, the couple didn’t stop. The donations kept coming, they carried on sending lorries of supplies to the Ukraine frontline, and the City Hub Ukraine was born.
To date, they have sent 65 lorries containing everything from food, clothes and medical supplies, to toys, toiletries, and even vehicles.
“It’s all the things you want when you’ve got nothing,” adds Ann. “Anything if your house or hospital has been tipped upside down and destroyed. You need the basics or anything that brightens up your day.”
Ann and Stuart are two of the Hub’s lead volunteers and were recognised by the Ukrainian government in 2024 for the humanitarian aid they have sent. Even four years later they haven’t lost their motivation and continue to fundraise and collect donations.
“We have no Ukrainian background whatsoever, but I just couldn’t imagine having to leave our home like that, and we just want to help people,” says Ann. “From spending a few days volunteering, it’s just something that’s evolved. And there’s a few families we’ve looked after that have become like our own family. That’s why we can’t stop, because it’s become personal now.”
Like them, musician Iryna Muha has found her own way to help families finding refuge in Nottingham. Born in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, she moved to Nottingham more than twenty years ago. She formed the Ukrainian School Band to support Ukrainian children’s transition into life in a new city, and says that music has been healing for many of them.
“They were ripped out of their environment and put into this new, completely strange world they didn’t know anything about,” says Iryna. “They had a lot of frustration and were feeling lost with a different language, different schools, moving houses.”
“Many also had to grow up very quickly and be a support to their mothers, as they have been better with learning English. There’s a lot of pressure on them.”
“For that reason it’s very important to have this band. To provide a safe space for them to come and sing, make friends and have fun making music.”
“I know how much music is healing for the soul and gives a sense of belonging, and it gives the children a chance to express themselves.”
The band has now recorded their debut song Dodomu (Home) which was recently performed at a concert to mark the fourth anniversary of the invasion and fundraise for a children’s hospital in Kyiv. The song tells the story of displacement, finding a new home, and hopes for the future – a subject that the young singers can resonate with.
“It’s about searching for warmth and a sense of belonging, but also about strength and hope for a brighter future ahead,” adds Iryna. “It’s something they have created themselves in a new country and it’s a way of saying ‘hey, we’re here’.”
“Everyone still has friends or family, somebody they know, still in Ukraine, and fundraising is a way for us to remind people the war is still on, and children there still need care. It’s disappeared from the headlines but it’s still happening.”
Both the City Hub Ukraine and Ukrainian School Band are taking donations and hope that Nottingham maintains its support for Ukraine as the war continues to impact people’s lives. Catch the Ukrainian School Band's performance on Saturday 28 February at the Ukrainian Centre, Mansfield Road.
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