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We were all still on a high after last nights wonderful Scottish and Ukrainian country dancing. If you missed our film clips on Facebook, do seek them out. Utterly joyous!

First activity was gingerbread decorating. The children loved it, embracing their creative imaginations, turning biscuits into works of art. Intricate and less intricate. Obvious themes and then… um…. quirky. Some gingerbread even having interesting personalities. Which is saying something for a biscuit!

So the children weren’t that hungry for lunch but we muddled through!

The afternoon was spent in Lublin town, which was about a 45 minute drive. First up, the trampoline park! The children adore this. They get to rampage and throw themselves around, explore and PLAY in a safe environment.

By the time we had finished our session it was already dark. The plan was to park the coach, walk up to the old town and see the lights. The children were given glow sticks which was a super exciting start! Then up the ancient cobbled streets we climbed to find beautifully floodlit buildings and Christmas lights.

Do remember that on average these children and teachers have no power for 16 hours out of every 24 hours in their area of Ukraine. So as stunning as this was, it must be bewildering to see such exuberant use of electricity. When their every day activities are planned round having or not having limited functional power.

On average the children took nine million photos to share the beauty of the festive lights and floodlit buildings with loved ones at home. I’ve just included a few. It’s was so beautiful.

Such a lovely day for us and the children. So glad. These children deserve everything!

Having been wreath making in the morning, we launched into blanket giving out after lunchtime. Such a privilege to do this on your behalf.

We did as we’ve done in previous years, we put a selection of blankets out on chairs and the teachers brought them into us in small groups.

They are always a little overwhelmed by the beauty and the generosity of the gifted blankets. Honestly the most enormous thanks for making this happen. Means the world. Some children instantly spot the blanket they love and others will spend a long time choosing, it’s such a delightful process to be part of.

This little lad is just nine and a half years old. And so tired, it’s been a lot. Busy long travel yesterday, full on activities today. Look at him though. Look how he’s really feeling that Woolly Hug. Magic really isn’t it.

Fifty five blankets have their new owners tonight. They are already on beds. Some children are already asleep and tucked up. Some children were saying they had felt cold at night, so our blankets are already in action. Full of love and cosy comfort.

The rest of the blankets will be distributed to several Ukrainian refugee communities in Poland. And that’s a lovely lovely thought. Every blanket will be loved and treasured. Thank you so so much!

Everyone seemed to sleep well, or well enough and there was a lot of busy and friendly chatter around the breakfast table

We had CAFFEINE which will not be a surprise to anyone!

The day started with a getting to know you game. We’d been sent various questions in advance and the children had to interview us. Where do you live, do you have any pets etc? They had to only use English, and honestly they are so impressive. Some more confident than others, but all taking part! Amazing.

Then it was time for our wreath making! You were all with us as we laid out the tables. Thousands of strips. MILLIONS! Maybe. A lot definitely!

This was the most enormous success!! All the children had huge pleasure taking part with the activity. They were super focussed and engaged, right across the age spectrum. Thank you so so much! All those strips, different fabrics, different colours, metallics, patterns, textures. Awesome. The children loved it, and we’d factored enough so that the teachers could join in too. There is a kit of frames and strips too which will be taken back into Ukraine to use with children who were unable to travel. There were 5 who couldn’t come last minute, illness, travel docs and someone broke their fingers. Poor things.

Some children used all the colours, one child stuck with tartan, another alternated red and white. Some turned into little magpies seeking out all the glittery and sparkly strips. So much fun.

There are some clips live from this crafting session, if you haven’t seen them, do try to find them!

Literally 30 minutes after finishing this session we were handing blankets out. It was a gallop dear reader and will come in part 2!

But in short. A fabulous activity only successful because of all the legwork you put in. The cutting was worth it!

Thank you!

So happy and thankful to see them. They must be exhausted. One child said she’d had her breakfast at 4.30am! The coach had left at 6.30am, lucky to have two drivers so driving in shift makes for speed.

It’s always a challenge coming from Ukraine into Poland. War related security plus normal immigration checks, refugee movements, documentation. We’ve heard of border crossings on the Polish side taking 14 hours. Every single piece of luggage comes off and goes through a scanner. Every person is scanned. So much documentation needed. It can be a very tense time. But today the crossing police were helpful, the coach drivers helped the children too, it only took a couple of hours. Thank goodness.

So here, and settled in their rooms. There are children from four different schools, age range 10 to 16 years. Lovely to meet our old friends the teachers, Yulia, Iryna, Ira and Natalia. These women are astonishing. So resilient. We are in awe, you would be too.

Dinner time! First we had soup. Tradition is that a meal isn’t a meal without a soup to start. Let’s bring this back to the UK! Two types of cabbage, potatoes and schnitzel. Fabulous. We were so hungry at this point, we demolished it. As did the kids. Great to see!

And onto badge making. We all have them and this is really going to help us get to know each other. Andy pulls out his badge from the Gloucester Hugathon! We could have kicked ourselves for missing a trick!

Onto some getting to know you type games. Lots of shrieking with laughter. Kids being kids. It’s what we all want, isn’t it? Absolutely joyful.

They all loved it. We loved watching them loving it! WHAT’’S NOT TO LOVE?!

Everyone has turned in for an early night. It’s a super busy day tomorrow. We are doing our craft and giving out the blankets

So excited.

But first. Sleep! We are an hour ahead of the UK. Night all. X

The Ukrainian children’s coach left from near Kyiv at 6.30am, due to arrive at the hotel in Pełczyn, Poland where will all be staying at around 4.30pm. They’ve gone through both  Ukrainian and Polish border control. So it won’t be long! We will be so glad to see them.

We arrived at the hotel a few hours ago and have been busy doing prep. 

And we’ve been reunited with our blankets! It was wonderful to see them again. It has been months since we last saw them!