Prayer, silence, music and poetry at All Saints' on 24 August as Leamington's Ukrainian community marked Independence Day. The chair and the MP, in their words.
Leamington’s Ukrainian community spent the evening of 24 August at All Saints’ Parish Church, marking Ukraine’s Independence Day with prayer, singing and poetry.
The evening was organised by the Leamington Spa branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain. The branch wrote to The Leamington Post with an account of it, along with two photographs taken at the church by Anastasia Kharchenko. Everything below comes from the branch’s own statement and those photographs.
The branch describes an audience drawn from three groups: members of the Ukrainian community, local residents, and community representatives and supporters of Ukraine. We asked the branch how many people attended and have not yet had an answer, so we are not putting a number on it.
What was on the programme
The branch lists five things in the order of the evening:
- a prayer for Ukraine
- a minute of silence
- Ukrainian music and singing
- traditional cultural performances
- poetry
The branch says the evening was a chance to honour Ukrainian identity and culture, and also to thank the local community for the support it has shown Ukrainians since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Who the organisers say was there
The branch names four guests, and one group:
- Matt Western MP
- Alison Insley, Mayor of Kenilworth
- Cllr Oliver Jacques
- Cllr Richard Dickson
- representatives from Warwickshire County Council
We asked which of them appear in the photographs the branch sent, and which roles they hold. That answer has not come back yet, so the captions on this page say only where and when the pictures were taken.
“A time to honour our history, identity and culture”
Anna Savchenko, the branch’s chair, put the occasion like this:
For our Ukrainian community, Independence Day is a deeply meaningful occasion, a time to honour our history, identity and culture, and to reflect on what independence means to us today. We are truly grateful for the warm welcome and continued support we have received from the people of Warwickshire. This evening was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our culture together and to strengthen the friendship and solidarity between our communities.
Matt Western, who attended, is quoted by the branch as saying:
I was honoured to attend this event celebrating the 35th anniversary of Ukrainian independence with our local Ukrainian community and the many who have shown such great support to them and their country in recent years. The UK will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and I was proud to make that clear as our Prime Minister told the Ukrainian people exactly that when in Kyiv this week. Thank you to all who organised such a powerful event as we mark this important anniversary and the strong bond between our two countries.
Both quotations are as the branch supplied them to us.
What it means for you
If you want to find the branch, it can be reached at leamington.spa@augb.co.uk. The branch sits under the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, whose site is at augb.co.uk. The branch describes its own work as supporting the local Ukrainian community and promoting Ukrainian culture, heritage and community engagement.
If you run a community group in Leamington, Warwick or Kenilworth, this is the kind of thing we will cover, and the organiser’s own account is how it should reach us. Send it to hello@theleamingtonpost.co.uk. What we need is what the branch gave us here: a date, a venue, who took part, and photographs you have the right to share.
If you are looking for what else is on locally, our things to do in Leamington Spa page keeps the standing list.
We have asked the branch for attendance numbers and for the names of the people in the photographs. If those come back, this article will be updated and the update dated.
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