Back in early July (2022) a friend and I (Chris) were returning from a day at the Edgbaston Test on the train and we found ourselves sat next to a Ukrainian Refugee family and their sponsor. A more humble, polite and engaging family you would not find and during the course of the conversation we learnt that there were over fifty (50) Ukrainian refugee families in around the Stafford Area.
My friend is involved with both Staffordshire Seniors Cricket and Milford Hall Cricket Club and between us we immediately thought that we wanted to do something to help and that something should include cricket and Milford Hall.
Several meetings later we have a plan! We are arranging an open event for the refugees and club members and residents on 24th August 2022, with the 24th being the Independence Day of Ukraine. We will be arranging other events based on the needs of the refugees which will be a combination of fundraisers for specifics and a series of social and cricket related events to give the refugees an opportunity to enjoy the facilities at Milford, and for the children to play whilst the parents enjoy some a chat a drink and dare I say, some much deserved and needed space!
We are also looking at a cricket match between a NBCC Ukrainian Refugee Team and a Milford Hall Cricket Club Invitational Team. More details on that here.
Independence Day of Ukraine
Independence Day of Ukraine (Ukrainian: День незалежності України) is the main state holiday in modern Ukraine,[nb 1] celebrated on 24 August[3] in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of 1991.[4]
When Ukraine was still a Soviet republic, the Ukrainian diaspora traditionally recognized 22 January (the Declaration of Independence of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1918) as Ukrainian Independence day.[5]
The current form of the holiday was first celebrated on 16 July 1991, as the first anniversary of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine passed by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) in 1990.[4][6] Since the Declaration of Independence was issued on 24 August 1991, and confirmed by the referendum of 1 December 1991, the date of the holiday was changed.[7] (In December 1991 many Ukrainian Canadians expected that 1 December would become Ukraine’s official independence day.)[8]
Beginning in 2004, 23 August is celebrated as National Flag Day.[9]
Source and more information: Wikipedia