Supporting Displaced Ukrainian Children During Chelsea Flower Show
We are continuing to show support for displaced Ukrainian children by selling special edition sunflower Growbars in our Duke of York Square store during Chelsea Flower Show and Chelsea in Bloom this week.
Sunflowers have long been a beloved symbol of Ukrainian national identity and have emerged as a sign of resistance and peace. By buying a special edition sunflower Growbar, not only will you be supporting the Rucksack Project - an initiative providing therapy sessions to Ukrainian children - but growing the sunflowers will
show your solidarity in creating peace in the war-torn country.
Grow a sunflower and give a life this week.
Purchase in store or call 0207 823 5550 to reserve a bar.
The Rucksack is a story both about Ukrainian children and for Ukrainian children – written by iconic British children’s author Diane Redmond (writer of Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam) and illustrated by Ukrainian artist Lilia Martynyuk, the story takes the children through devastating loss and trauma; they receive empathy and support from other children, alongside help from adults.
Thousands of Ukrainian children have been forced to flee their homes and relocate in other countries. Many packed precious mementos in their rucksacks. Wherever they relocated they had little access to books in their own language. Rucksack, written in both English and Ukrainian, was inspired by children leaving Ukraine, where all they had was a rucksack on their back, knowing that they were leaving their world, their life and their memories in one backpack. The book was written to describe one boy's experience of losing his possessions and his attempts to replace his memories.
To buy a copy of the Rucksack online, please click here (https://rucksackproject.co.uk/buy/).
Please visit www.rucksackproject.co.uk to find out more about the Rucksack project. Please donate to keep providing life-changing support to displaced Ukrainian children and parents here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Children-and-War-UK-Rucksack
The book has been made available to purchase by the public, with all proceeds going to Children and War UK to provide vital training to heal the future of Ukraine. With the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and Olena Zelensky, the European Commission and UNHCR, over 2000 books have been distributed to displaced Ukrainian children around the UK and EU, with the aim of reaching at least 50,000 families with the initiative. Thanks to fundraising and kind donations, the book has been made available to purchase by the public, with all proceeds from sales used to provide life-saving trauma therapy for displaced Ukrainian families.
Created in partnership with Children and War UK, the project reflects Children and War healing training, guided by the expertise of Professor William Yule (King’s College London; founder of Children and War UK), Dennis Ougrin (professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Queen Mary University of London) and renowned Ukrainian psychologist Kateryna Yavna Rosenthal (who has worked with Children and War since 2014). Every picture book distributed to displaced Ukrainian children comes with a separate exercise book, a simple booklet of advice for parents, carers, teachers - wherever they might be - who are reading RUCKSACK to the children, with the aim of the book becoming a soothing personal possession to support the mental health of the young readers.