Staff from USPG and the Diocese in Europe were joined by members of the General Synod as they reported on how the joint appeal, launched last year, has supported refugees from Ukraine across Europe. 

Rebecca Boardman (USPG) and Andrew Caspari (Diocese in Europe) were able to share how the fast-paced and generous response from the Anglican Communion led to over £400,000 being raised.  For the response to be as effective as possible, Andrew spoke about how building strong ecumenical relationships with Caritas SPES and LWF was vital, and we were able to give £100,000 from the appeal to support their work on the ground. 

Rebecca shared some stories about the transformation that she witnessed on a trip to Europe earlier this year. She spoke about how the Valila Help Centre in Finland was providing three main areas of service: humanitarian aid (such as clothes and food), emotional support and information and practical advice relating to life in Finland. 

Andrew said, “People see and know that it is the church that is responding, we are mobilising communities to not only fulfil needs such as food and education but also to build powerful connections and conversations”. 

After a Q&A session, we closed our time together with a new video filmed by Ukrainian filmmaker Lena, who captured footage and stories of the chaplaincy in Bucharest, Romania supporting Ukrainian refugees. You can watch that film here: