Rutland group launches first UK-based Ukrainian Rotary Club in Oakham

Families who sought sanctuary from war have been inspired to help those back in Ukraine by the welcome they received here.

The Ukrainian Rotary Impact Club of Rutland launched at The Catmose Club, in Oakham, on Monday (November 4) and is the UK’s first Ukrainian Rotary Club.

Following the Rotary Club’s motto - Service Above Self - a group of 15 members will carry out projects to support those back home.

“We decided now that we are settled and the children are integrated here we are ready not just to ask for help but to help others,” said joint chairperson Nadia Tikhonova.

“Rather than just being happy because we are in safety now, we feel that’s not enough. You have to do something, you have to help.

“Probably it will be just a little drop in the sea, but this is what we want to do.”

The impact group will work with the Rotary Club of Rutland and help with their projects, but operate as a separate group.

“The main aim is to unite together,” Nadia explained.

“We want to share their experience and to bring some energy and new life to what they have been doing for many years.”

The first project, Wheelchairs for Ukraine, is already under way, appealing for new and used wheelchairs from all around the country. The club has already been overwhelmed with a large number of donations to the appeal.

They will collect all donated chairs and then deliver back to Ukraine for wounded troops. If you can help, email uarotaryinuk@gmail.com or call 07464 484181.

“The demand is huge - so many people have lost their mobility and limbs,” said Nadia.

“There are thousands of people who need this help.”

Back in late February 2022, the war was quick to reach Nadia’s doorstep as the Russians attacked the nearby airport at Gostomel.

“The war started really in front of our windows,” she recalled.

“It was like our grandmother’s stories when they woke up when the Second World War started. We woke up at half past four to the sound of shelling.

“No-one could imagine that war would come that close. You couldn’t really believe what was happening.”

After a couple of days sheltering in their basement they fled from their home in Irpin, near Kyiv, as the Russians closed in.

“We managed to escape in the last moment and I think that probably that saved our lives,” she said.

”What happened afterwards, what they did in nearby Bucha was really awful.”

Friends from Rutland became sponsors, allowing Nadia and her two children to move to Burley-on-the-Hill, and soon after, her husband was allowed to join them.

The family now live in Oakham, with both parents working locally and their 10-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter settled in town schools.

Nadia has been amazed at the welcome they received in their adopted home, particularly from Rotarian David Morris.

“We have so many people here and everyone needed something and it was him every time,” she said.

“He managed to answer each smallest need and question. He deserves all the best words that I can find, but it won’t be enough!”

Nadia met David when he was Rotary’s district governor for the East Midlands in 2022 and helped set up a club for Ukrainian children which runs every Saturday morning at Oakham Fire Station.

“Initially when we gave them paper and pens and crayons to draw things they would draw pictures of tanks and guns.

“Now they’re drawing pictures of normal things. They’ve settled in and it’s fantastic to see.”

The group also plan to run a stall at Rutland Fair Trade Christmas Market, at Oakham Castle, on Sunday, November 30, selling cakes, baked goods and pastries. The proceeds will buy Christmas presents to send to Ukrainian children.

“Everyone in our group has in their heart a really hard story of how they came here,” Nadia added.

“We could never expect such support that we got from everyone.

“We were lost and had lost everything we had.

“Now we hope that, like we were woken up on February 24 when war came to us, one day we will wake up and hear that’s it, the war has finished.”