Village party raises £28k as gran escapes here from war

A VILLAGE fundraising tea party in support of people in Ukraine raised an incredible £28,000.

More than 160 people attended the musical promise auction event at Ewyas Harold Memorial Hall to help smash the target of £10,000 on the day and via a Just Giving page.

And in another heart-warming tale from the dreadful events in eastern Europe, a Pontrilas-based Ukrainian mum-of-three, who has raised more than £110,000 for displaced youngsters and families in rural areas of her homeland, has been reunited with her own 60-year-old mother after she managed to get out of the war-hit country to travel here.

Residents at the memorial hall party observed a minute’s silence in honour of those who have lost their lives in the Russian invasion, followed by loud applause for those left behind in the war-torn country.

A Ukrainian family also spoke movingly about all the help they were receiving from the British people in the current difficult situation.

Entertainment included a singing waiter and music and dancing as people enjoyed the first social event at the hall since the start of the Covid lockdown in early 2020.

An organiser said: “We would like to thank everyone who showed such unbelievable support for this event.

“Hopefully, its success will persuade other villages in the area to follow suit and raise some money for the people of Ukraine.

“A special thank you to all the young volunteers who worked so hard all day to help the event happen. You were all amazing.”

Meanwhile, Nataliya Cummings , 36, who runs the charitable tourism business Experience Ukraine & Beyond, was overjoyed to see her mother arrive in the UK after escaping the war.

She had posted on the first day of the invasion: “It’s my mum’s birthday today! A big 60! I was waiting to call her and wish her all the best things in the world because she deserves them, but instead we were both crying on a phone….

“And then my mum said at least we will all remember the day very well. Just can’t simply put into words the turmoil I am in right now…”

Having finally obtained a visa, she added before her mum’s arrival: “Thank you for all your kind messages and support.

“It has been an agony waiting for my mum’s visa to come through, but the drama is over.

“This morning I have received an email I was waiting for for nearly two weeks. She is coming tomorrow on Mother’s Day! Tears of Joy!”

And after an emotional reunion, she posted: “When we were driving my mum from the airport she told all the horrors she heard from her friends, whose relatives were in Mariupol and how my mum’s friend’s sister lost her life…

“She told us how awful it was to spend most of the days and nights in the bomb shelters… we are so relieved she is here now.”

Nataliya, who has lived on the Welsh border near Abergavenny with husband Kie Robert and their three children for 12 years, also previously revealed how her brother Andriy Prepodobnyia, a human rights lawyer who works for the presidential secretary in Kyiv, had joined the fight to defend their homeland, and how they had managed to send him a helmet and protective vest.

To see information about Nataliya’s fundraising efforts, go to Experience Ukraine & Beyond on Facebook.

To donate to the Ewyas Harold fundraiser, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ewyas-harold-afternoon-tea