UPDATE: 24/08/2022 - Ukrainian Independence Day seems the perfect day to share the news that Annabel has now raised over £1000! The Ukraine are fighting hard and today that determination and passion for their country has been even more visible than ever - however, they continue to need our help, so if you would like to purchase one of Annabel’s ribbons send me a message using the contact button below or pop into The Kitchen Table on Camden Road, Tunbridge Wells. You can also make donations directly to Disasters Emergency Committee.
UPDATE: 7/05/2022 - The total raised is now £855.82! Annabel has sold out again, so will be spending the next couple of evenings making more ribbons to take along to the Empowering Women Networking and Shopping Event that is taking place at the Royal Wells hotel this Friday evening (10th June). It’s too late in the evening for Annabel to attend herself, but I will be there and would love you to come and say hello and maybe even buy a ribbon! Tickets for the event can be bought here.
We were really touched to meet a lovely Ukrainian lady and her son on Sunday. She spotted the ribbons on our jackets and came over to speak to us with the assistance of a translator. It was a very emotional moment to meet someone who has experienced the war first hand and to be able to tell her about Annabel’s efforts to help in some little way with her ribbon sales.
UPDATE: 4/05/2022 - Annabel has made over 250 ribbon pins and raised over £700. As we ran out of ribbon and supplies for the 5th time, I asked her if it was time to stop making the pins yet… she replied that she ‘won’t give up’ and that she would ‘keep going as long as the war goes on’, so if you would like ribbons, either pop along to The Kitchen Table on Camden Road, Tunbridge Wells or let me know!
UPDATE 6/04/2022 - Annabel has now made about 150 ribbon pins and raised £540 for the people of the Ukraine. Thank you for your support.
Like most children, my daughter Annabel (aged 7) is aware - to a degree - of the war in Ukraine. Trying to give children age-appropriate information to understand that what they are unavoidably seeing and hearing around them is not a direct threat to them, but also trying to prevent their exposure to the more devastating details is a tricky balance to achieve.
So, on day 3 of the war, I turned to good old Newsround on CBBC which gave a clear overview about where the Ukraine and Russia are, who Putin is and a little about his personal background, but kept away from anything sensationalist or emotive ( - perfect, and I even learnt a bit too!)
After watching this a couple of times, Annabel had some questions and wanted to know what she could do to help the Ukrainian people.
With my encouragement, Annabel and her bonus sister decided that in the absence of any official Ukraine fundraising ribbon pins, they would make and sell them to raise money to support the people of the Ukraine – doing something constructive in this way will help those who need the funds, but has the added benefit of giving the girls a sense of purpose and a little control (in a world that has felt out of control since Covid hit).
The girls selected blue and yellow ribbons as close to the colours of the Ukrainian flag as they could, stuck them together, measured, cut and then glued them onto safety pins (I did the glue gun part to avoid burnt fingers!) Scroll to the bottom of the page if you would like to learn how to make some of your own.
Nearly sold out!
Having rehearsed a little pitch explaining who they are, what they had made and that they were raising money for the Ukraine, the girls went door to door in our area on Saturday 5th March. It was a freezing, drizzly afternoon but they wouldn’t stop until they had sold every one - even taking off the ones that they were wearing and insisting that I did too so that they could sell those as well!
They gained such confidence and were met with such encouragement and support. It was incredibly heart-warming to see the kindness of our neighbours and to see the girls become increasingly articulate, self-assured and enthusiastic throughout the process.
Annabel has since had orders for ribbon pins from the Senior Leadership team at her school, fellow students, other households in our local area and requests for instructions so that their friends can make and sell them too: some children as far afield as Jersey have expressed their intention to make some! I’m looking forward to hearing how they get on.
The manager of The Kitchen Table (a lovely café in Tunbridge Wells run by the mental health charity, Crossways) saw one of her staff members wearing one of the girls’ ribbons and got in touch. They are now supporting the girls’ fundraising efforts by selling the ribbons in their café. If you are near Camden Road, do pop along to buy one - whilst you’re there, why not enjoy a cup of tea, a piece of cake and a chat with the wonderful people who work there too.
We will be donating all funds raised to the Ukraine via Disasters Emergency Committee. With the benefit of gift aid and the UK government’s commitment to double any donations made via DEC their contribution is even greater and the girls are not stopping yet!
In the midst of so much uncertainty, which is negatively impacting on the mental health of so many, it is even more important to empower children in this way and give them some tools to take action and to inspire others - the girls have seen that though they are young, they can make a real difference and I am enormously proud of what they have achieved.
If you live locally (Tunbridge Wells) and would like to order any ribbons, do get in touch. We recommend a donation of £2 per ribbon.
How to Make Ribbon Pins
If you would like to try making some fundraising ribbon pins of your own, you will need…
Blue and yellow ribbon (we couldn’t find striped ribbon so stuck 6mm blue ribbon onto 12mm yellow ribbon)
Double sided tape dispenser or glue
A ruler
Scissors
Glue dots or glue gun
Small safety pins (ours are 23mm)
Clear nail varnish
Instructions:
Using the double sided tape or glue, adhere the thinner ribbon (blue in our case) to the wider ribbon (yellow for us). Or if you have found striped ribbon, you can feel smug and move straight onto step 2!
Measure and cut 12-13cm lengths of the dual coloured ribbon - cut the ends on the diagonal to help reduce fraying and so that the ends line up once the ribbon is twisted into its final position. This means that the ends of one piece should be cut in the opposite direction to one another to form a long trapezium (ie the yellow side of the ribbon will be slightly shorter at both ends than the blue side or visa versa) - this sounds confusing written down, but should make sense when you look at the photo…
Step 2 - 13cm long ribbons cut on the diagonal
Steps 3 and 4 - Safety pin positioned parallel to the cut end of the ribbon and with glue on top ready for the ribbon to be twisted into position.
3. Place a cut piece of this ribbon face up and thread a safety pin 3cm from one end. The non-opening edge of the safety pin needs to be on top and placed on a slight angle across the ribbon, parallel to the diagonally cut end that it is closest to.
4. Either place a glue dot on top of the safety pin edge and press onto the ribbon or add a pea-sized blob of glue using the glue gun.
5. Twist the ribbon round to form a loop and stick the ribbon on top of your glue to form a glue sandwich.
6. Allow to dry.
7. You may like to add a touch of clear nail varnish to the ends of the ribbons if they look like they may fray (- some of the ribbon we have used seems more determined to fray than others!)
8. Get fundraising!