Urswick School students are putting their artistic talents to good use, as they support calls for peace after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by sending their artworks to the Mayor of Kyiv.
Students attending the school’s twice-weekly art club are producing paintings to send to Sergey Cheremin, International Secretary of Moscow City Council, and Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, on 11 March.
Richard Brown, headteacher at Urswick School, said: “We thought it was a really nice idea for the children to capture their imagination, do something positive and visually communicate our support for the people of Ukraine.
“It will mainly be our younger children, aged 11-13, doing the project and there are already a range of different ideas and visualisations that they have come up with, so we are excited to see how they all turn out.”
Hackney shows solidarity
Councillor Michael Desmond approached the Hackney-based secondary school last week with the idea. Cllr Desmond, who is Hackney’s Council Speaker, has a strong connection with Ukraine, working with outreach projects in the country since 2009.
Cllr Desmond told the Hackney Post that the project was an attempt to show that “all people in Hackney promote peace and we believe in a peaceful outcome, and that we are against all the bloodshed.”
“Sergey Cheremin, who is the International Secretary for Moscow City Council, knows Putin and although this is a very small gesture, there’s a slight chance that this, like a grain of sand on the beach making a sandcastle, might just influence them a tiny bit, if they think that even kids in Hackney are concerned about what’s happening and what to bring about peace.
“The idea is that we should be promoting peace… we should promote people resolving issues, discourse and compromise, and understanding.
”The bitter hatred, enmity that’s caused should be a thing of the past, especially after all that Europe has been through over the years. The idea is that it should be something about the idea and concept of peace as a mechanism of dispute resolution, peace as a concept, and peace as a hope and aspiration.
Councillor Desmond’s connections with Ukraine
Cllr Desmond told the Hackney Gazette on Thursday that he “knows the country very well” and that Ukrainians are “decent, peace-loving people”. His connections with Ukraine began with the outreach projects with the Jewish community in Odesa, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipro, and Kyiv.
“We were giving guidance, support and advice and helping some of the communities there. I went on several visits and helped some people who have since come to London where they have done quite well…Ukraine has not ever been in the EU, so we have been doing some outreach work, and I helped the Jewish communities where the rabbis have to flee to Israel.”
Cllr Desmond spoke about a Ukrainian friend of his who moved back to Kharkiv from London in 2021. She has since told the councillor: “It is a horror, here but we are still hoping and praying.”
“She went back to Kharkiv, which is her home city and what did she go back to?”, said Cllr Desmond. “These terrible bombs and terrible destruction. So I am quite emotional about it when you see all the pain and suffering that’s going on.
In Clissold, a primary school has fundraised for over £1100 for Ukraine appeals through a bake sale
