We are supporting Packed with Hope, an initiative that aims to bring comfort and escape for children displaced by fleeing Ukraine. Packed with Hope are providing backpacks containing a selection of books, head torches, drinking bottles, notebooks, colouring pencils and other much-needed items, as well as food and letters from children in the UK. Bloomsbury has donated a range of books suitable for children whose first language is not English. There is a Just Giving campaign underway to raise £75,000 for the purchase of items and the distribution of 10,000 filled backpacks.

The David Nott Foundation joined forces with former Consultant Neurosurgeon Henry March to deliver a 12-hour surgical training course to over 500 healthcare professionals in Ukraine, supported by a £10,000 Bloomsbury donation. After the Russian invasion, David Nott rapidly developed the war surgery training course for doctors who are working, or will work, to save lives in Ukraine.

We have also donated £15,000 to the Red Cross and £15,000 to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to support their work in Ukraine and for Ukrainian refugees. The Red Cross’s priority now is to assist people during this time of heightened tension, with access to clean water, health care and psychosocial support. The UNHCR estimates that over 100,000 women, men and children are newly displaced within Ukraine; they are urgently upscaling relief operations to support fleeing civilians.

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this terrible and unjust war.