Karen Bradley MP Column 07.11.22
As the terrible war in Ukraine continues, I would like to say a special thank you to the many people in the Moorlands, including so many voluntary groups and charities, that have helped the many refugees coming here or who have donated money and goods to be sent to help displaced Ukrainians abroad.
Having been involved in the initiative between Biddulph Town Council and the town of Bierun in Poland that was set up to help the many Ukrainian refugees they had there, I am delighted to be part of another project to help Ukraine.
Following a meeting with the Director of PACT, the organisation that representsand supports independent TV production and distribution companies, I was interested to hear how they had launched a YouTube Channel called Sunflower TV, to support the people of Ukraine. Everyone involved has provided their services for free; it is not a charity or a business; the British broadcastingindustry has come together to help.
The channel is aimed at pre-school and school age children and has approximately 56,000 hours of content that has been dubbed into Ukrainian.They are currently working on adding some educational content and work with a child psychologist and a group of Ukrainian mothers to make sure they have the best advice.
There are many displaced Ukrainian children, at risk from human traffickers so I arranged a call with PACT, a Ukrainian MP, a Polish Senator and representatives from agencies and charities working on the ground in the Ukraine involved in the fight against human trafficking.
It was a really interesting and productive call and together, we are working on promoting the message of safe migration and safe travelling to children in Ukraine through this channel.
Interestingly, although the highest viewing is in the Ukraine, viewing was also high in Russia, Poland, Germany and the UK.