Ukraine Crisis and The Dragon Ride
On Sunday 19th June, KDW’s own Marcus Maisey and Gary Cretton are undertaking the “MacMillan 100”, a 100km cycle ride through The Brecon Beacons as part of the The Dragon Ride, one of the oldest and most iconic cycling sportives, to raise money for The Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal. The ride is renowned as being one of the toughest and most legendary in the British Isles.
Please consider donating to their JustGiving page, which aims to raise money for The Red Cross, to help Ukrainians displaced by the appalling war happening in their country. This is the story that inspired the decision to take on The Dragon Ride through Wales.
Oksana and Denys’ Story
The 24th of February 2022 is a day for the history books – the day the Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. We bore witness to regular citizens taking up arms to defend their homeland, families getting torn apart, and villages, towns and cities brutally attacked by soldiers who may not even know what they’re fighting for.
Over the following months, efforts across Europe escalated to help Ukrainians displaced by these atrocities. The government here in the UK announced loosened visa requirements in order to help Ukrainians seek refuge here while the war runs its course. The Homes for Ukraine Scheme was set up, giving Britons the opportunity to offer space in their homes to those who so tragically found themselves run out of their own. The website was inundated with people who wanted to help.
One of those people is Andrew Hunt, one of KDW’s Mortgage and Commercial Advisers. He and his family, who live just outside of Hitchin, decided to take action. “Watching the horrors of war, it just felt the right thing to do” says Andrew. “We tried to imagine ourselves in the position of my wife and son having to leave home, whilst I had to remain in the country, and it seemed a small thing to do in the circumstances”. Andrew, his wife and their 16 year old son all agreed they had to help. As soon as they could, they registered with Homes for Ukraine, and decided to sponsor a mother, Oksana, and her 16 year old son Denys, because they thought it would be a good idea to host a family who were similar in age to them, both with sons in the same school year.
Along with members of their community, a fundraising event took place, and the proceeds were divided between the Red Cross and the Ukrainians living in Fairfield Park - including their guests. Andrew explained “Most Ukrainians in our area have fled with very few personal possessions (and not large amounts of money) and need to wait until they receive government support, so we decided they should benefit, as well the Red Cross”.
The sponsorship endeavour was not to be without its challenges though. “The visa took far too long to come through - almost 4 weeks when the government had said they should come through within days” says Andrew, “so we visited our MP at one of his surgeries to raise the matter, staying in daily contact with him until the visa came through. He was very helpful and did push it along for us, which we appreciated”.
Upon arrival in the UK, further challenges lay ahead, like getting Denys into school, registering them with the doctors, dentist, job centre, enrolling Oksana on English Language courses and so on. Andrew tells us that “As Oksana's English isn't great, my wife (I am too busy with work) has had to make all the arrangements and accompany her to the job centre, doctors etc.” which has been time-consuming but the family is committed to helping their guests live as normal a life as they possibly can under the circumstances.
Oksana, 49, is a qualified accountant and was Finance Director for a construction company in Kyiv. She is hoping to find a job in the UK, but first needs to improve her English, which she studies all day. Andrew tells us “In just 5-6 weeks, her English has improved dramatically!” Her son Denys, 16, who speaks English very well, has been pivotal in communications between the families, and has been able to join the same school as Andrew’s son, which will have hopefully eased the transition. Oksana had no choice but to leave her husband and 24 year old son behind in Ukraine, as they do not have permission to leave.
While we can’t all sponsor a family, we can all definitely help support the charities on the ground who are making an incalculable difference to the lives of those who have been affected by this war.