It’s been just over a month since our last update, and a lot has happened since then. Not all of it has been fun and excursions, but still very important.Settling in to Edinburgh has not been without its challenges, but thankfully we have an amazing team working around the children, and the house mothers, to ensure that they not only settle in to their accommodation but also integrate into society.Most of the children are now in school, and committee member Mags McPherson has been working closely with the head teachers to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible .. with Dnipro Kids on speed dial and ready to help support where needed.It has very much been a month of football, with the children attending the last game of the season at Easter Road, the international match between Scotland and Ukraine, a football tournament at the Secondary School and a “proud dad” moment for the charity with one of our girls playing in the school football team.
Monthly SponsorshipI have to say that the response for people signing up with a monthly sponsorship has been amazing. It is great that people are supporting the charity in this way, it really does give us the ability to make longer term plans when we have a steady monthly amount coming in to the charity.Once again, if anyone has had any issues setting up their monthly direct debit please get in touch and we will get it resolved.Upcoming ExcursionOur biggest excursion since the kids arrived in Scotland, and by far the hardest to plan, starts on the 4th of July with an early start and a 4 day trip south. We have visits organised to Beamish Museum, Harry Potter Studios, Legoland and Warwick Castle. We are confident that the kids will have an amazing time, and I’m sure there’ll be lots of amazing photos for the next update.
Visit to Easter Road 15th MayIt is well known that Dnipro Kids was started by Hibs supporters back in 2005, so it meant a lot to everyone involved with the charity to be able to invite the children along to the last home game of the season .. at the place where it all started. It’s been a long time coming, and the circumstances that allowed it to happen are horrendous, but it was great to be able to introduce the children to the supporters .. and to receive such a warm welcome.
A huge thank you to Hibernian Football Club for providing so much for the children, and making them guests of honour at the match.We had an area set aside in the Famous Five stand and with hard work from the club, committee and especially Mags McPherson we were able to provide something special for all the invited children, sponsors and special guests.
There were jugglers, magicians, bucking bronco, balloons, face painting, games and much much more .. and it all made for an amazing memorable day for both children and supporters alike.
We even had some of the children playing a small sided game of football on the pitch at half time!
Scotland v UkraineOnce again we would like to thank people for their hard work and generosity in making this, already very important World Cup qualifier, into something extra special for the children. We had the SFA sorting out match tickets, Lothian Motorcoaches for transport, Amazon for the Ukrainian flags and all the committee members that worked so hard to make it a great night .. oh, and the National team for having an off day.
We won’t dwell on the result, but I can honestly say in all the years of excursions and trips that I have NEVER seen the children, so excited, so energetic and so happy as they were that night.It’s also worth a mention that the school also organised a football tournament the afternoon of the match, and an invitation was extended to the older boys not yet enrolled at the school.
Game TimeAs I mentioned earlier, there has been a lot of work behind the scenes by committee, college and council. One piece of this work is the provision of games and activities for the children.The college has provided an area of grass for the children, and the committee have been working hard to ensure they have the right play equipment in place. We have a large trampoline, volleyball net, football goals, swings, slides and park benches.
And when it is raining … pool tables, table tennis and fussball table.
Excursion to Edinburgh ZooDuring July we organised an excursion to Edinburgh Zoo. The children had a great time .. and got to meet a real life Princess when they were introduced to Princess Anne, who was there as part of a Jubilee Visit.
Excursion to East LinksWe had an excursion to East Links Family Park last week, and it was a great day out for the kids (with the rain even hanging off until we were all back on the bus!).
We invited 6 year old Orla Ferguson along on the excursion as thank you for her fundraising activities over the last couple of months. After hearing about the plight of the Dnipro kids Orla donated her favourite teddies to the children, but felt that wasn’t enough and started doing some fundraising as well. Orla managed to collect over £700 with raffles, car boot sales and other fundraising activities .. so it was a pleasure to invite her along to spend the day with us.
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/hib-hib-hooray-as-bonnyrigg-girl-raises-cash-for-dnipro–kids-3744164Dnipro Kids MinibusOne of the big issues we have had with so many children, and house mothers, in the same place is transport. Luckily we had some generous donors that asked for us to use the money for specific projects, and that helped cover the cost of purchasing a second hand minibus.
It also came with a full tank of diesel, which was a huge bonus given current prices at the pumps!At the moment we are looking for recommendations for a signwriting company, in order to get some Dnipro Kids artwork on it.
Dnipro Kids Update – July 2022
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