A Dawn Till Dusk charity football day held on Sunday 2nd October, organised by Turner House, has raised £5,000 for UKtoUkraine – money that will equip schools in the Donbas region with diesel generators and computers.
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February, hundreds of thousands of families fled their homes. The Turner boys gathered food and basic sanitary supplies to support the refugees. The conflict felt even more personal as a Turner pupil – Ilya – watched rockets land on his home city, Odesa.
Meanwhile nearby, a group of local friends hatched a plan. One of them was Pip, the mother of a Remove boy. Starting out small from villages close to Marlborough, Pip and her friends collected donations of food, clothes and medical items from local contacts, borrowed three vans and a horsebox and drove the supplies themselves to the Polish-Ukrainian border. So far, the organisation they founded – UKtoUkraine – has raised over £200,000 in aid of Ukrainian refugees. Since that first trip in March they have delivered 40 generators to hospitals as well as thousands of pounds worth of medical equipment, food and other essentials.
Sunday’s charity football marathon saw Turner pupils play back-to-back matches from 6.36am (dawn) until 7.16pm (dusk), with games including five-a-side, Lower School vs Upper School, Fathers vs Sons and a match against a College staff team.
It was an incredible effort from the Turner boys, who brought huge energy and joy to the day, even in the driving rain and relative darkness of dawn.
We are also hugely grateful to Turner parents for their support: they gave generously, played in matches, supported from the touchline and baked cakes to get everyone through the day.
Alex de Trafford
Housemaster of Turner
