Rose Cecil
Mission Ukraine
Published on:
January 4, 2023
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Thanks for taking the time to sit with us to share your story with our readers. Can you start out by sharing a little bit about you and/or your organization, business, or project?
My name is Rose and I’m a volunteer with Mission Ukraine, a group of Brits & Ukrainians working together to deliver aid directly to those who need it most in Ukraine. We’ve delivered over £1m worth of aid so far. We’re staffed entirely by volunteers so there are no overheads. We need your donations to keep giving and supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainians
Everyone has a story about how they got started, what was the inspiration or the catalyst for you?
My niece Eyzie and her husband Roland were fundraising to buy Generators for recently liberated villages with no power in Ukraine. I made a paltry donation and said if they ever needed a driver I was available. Three days later I was driving to Ukraine
Tell us about a time that you faced a challenging situation in your life, organization, business, or project. How did you find a solution, or over-come the challenge?
Borders are always challenging - those queues and bureaucracy at the Polish/Ukrainian border! But seriously, the most challenging aspect of working at the sharp end is not allowing personal emotions to get in the way of getting the job done, while retaining an ability to listen, to be a witness to what people have endured and what they’re going through now.
I arrived at one village near Kherson, only liberated a month. They had cleaned up their village hall, cut a tree, found some battered decorations and were going to celebrate Christmas together. ‘We won’t allow the Russians to take Christmas away from us too,’ they said. That nearly broke me.
SHOP UKRAINIAN, BY UKRAINIANS, FOR UKRAINIANS
Running a business, an organization, a project is not always easy. What have your learned about yourself, about others along the way?
I’m a volunteer and the organisers Dmitry, Alex & Claire have been organising this at the beginning.
I guess it’s always the same though, teamwork, remembering to put the mission first and keeping a sense of humour.
We've all had that one moment that makes what we are doing worth it all. Can you share with us a story about the moment that really impacted you and touched your heart?
There are so many moments that touched my heart. Every day I met an extraordinary, courageous, unselfish hero or heroine who was surviving the best they could in terrible times.
Would the outstanding moment be the old man singing his heart out about his love for Ukraine and unable to finish the verse because he was overcome by sobs?
Or being hugged by Oksana in tears because we’d brought a booster that would enable her to contact her family?
Or the dentist wreathed in smiles because thanks to our generator she had power and could treat her patients for the first time since April?
If you could go back in time and give your self some advice on how to manage your business, nonprofit, or project, what advice would you give?
Start small. Build on success
If a potential client, donor, partner were reading this article right now, what would tell them about you, your team to convince them to choose you?
Help us support recently liberated villages in Ukraine with no power, no light, no heat and often no water in the bitter Ukrainian winter, when temperatures can plunge to -20. I know your donation goes straight to those very people, because I was there installing the generators. Help us to help Ukrainians. Thank you.
What is one fact about you, your business, your nonprofit, your project that most people might not know?
We are entirely staffed by volunteers meaning your donations go directly to help Ukrainians in need.
Where do you see your business, nonprofit, project going in the next 3 or 5 years?
Currently we are focussed on getting help to Ukraine during the winter months. Our aims will evolve to meet the changing requirements of Ukrainians and focus on where we are most needed.
It was so great sitting with you to learn more about you. How can people find out more about you, your business, nonprofit, or project?
You can find out more about Mission Ukraine on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvdLxfDrTlBO42Jzt1fo4Aw
And Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/373417174948038/?ref=share_group_link
And Instagram
https://instagram.com/missionukraine?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Thank you so much for sharing your story with HiHelloUkraine Story!
Thank you so much for getting in touch and I hope that we can remain in contact in future
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions
Many thanks
Rose
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Author
Rose Cecil
Mission Ukraine
Published on:
January 4, 2023
Follow on social media:
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