For Ukraine

16/09/2025

It has been some time since I posted anything here.

This is not because the problems facing Ukraine have gone away, far from it, but my main reason for starting the page was to share information about the concerts that were staged in Manchester to raise funds for humanitarian aid.

There have been no such concerts for some time now, partly because I find it quite stressful doing all the organising and partly because I found it difficult to promote them to a wider audience to bring in new faces.

I had received a few notifications, recently, telling me that new people had begun following the page, but I was astounded when I checked on the page today and saw just how many people had engaged with it.

The page has 3.8k followers - last time I looked it was in the hundreds.

I now feel an urgent responsibility to re-engage with the page and find some new ways to use it as a platform to share comments, publicise events and, perhaps, start a new round of fundraising in some form.

Please be patient while I look through the comments since the last time I checked and I will start new posts early next week.

Slava Ukraine

Martin Gittins

20/11/2024

Pray for Ukraine in these tense and uncertain days.

03/06/2024

This poem is by a friend of mine, Lynn Walton, and it appears in her new Anthology 'The Breadcrumb Trail' just published. Available here - www.bfpublications.co.uk

Heartbeat
(The White Stork is the national bird of Ukraine and the Sunflower its national flower)
For the people and land of Ukraine

kneel on the soil put your ears to the ground
quiet listen feel her sound
it’s the heartbeat of your home
faint but unstoppable
rising above the impossible
pulsing through obstacles
her belly rubbled like squashed fruit
face crumpled in worried furrows
she is stamped on and r***d
ripped open
heart-ached
blood-soaked
tear-choked
skin-cracked
children scattered by callous hands
they have scarred the blue of her eyes
shredded the carpet of gold from the soles of her feet
she swallows the hurt that burns her tongue
but you have fought for her
and held her till the pain of your fists might breach your skin
and the wrap of your arms becomes her splint
she will remember you by breath by words by face
when you take back your places
as husbands fathers brothers lovers sons
family makers women of strength and life-creators
weavers of binding roots shared memory laughter-makers
you are held together by ropes of hope
you wear them like bone
the white stork outstretches wings to soar
she flies above horizons and borders
gathers you towards her
to defy survive rise
like sunflowers in their feisty climb
uplifting their fists of yellow against a blue sky
no-one ever took your breath away
it slips through your lips undefeated
so with every in and out you shout
I’m coming home
I’m coming home
this is my home

Here you will find all the latest news about our publications from the moment they are announced to the day they arrived from the printers and you can get your eager hands on your very own copy.

18/01/2024

https://twitter.com/i/status/1747315545328812416

16/06/2023

A very good article here, very well presented. Food for thought!

What we learned from counting the Russian dead

02/05/2023

I was at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre on Sunday and I was given a certificate that had been sent from the front line to thank me for the funds raised in the recent 'Sing for Ukraine' concert. This is a certificate not for me, but for EVERYONE who had a part to play in the success of the concert, from the performers to the sound engineer to the bar staff and, not least to those who forked out their hard-earned cash for seats, raffle tickets and merchandise on the night.
Well done and a thousand thanks from the people of Ukraine.

13/03/2023

WONDERFUL NEWS!!
It's almost too good to be true but the generators we purchased with the proceeds of the Sing For Ukraine #2 Concert on Friday 3rd March have already been delivered. They have gone to the heart of the conflict in the region of Bakhmut, where support is sorely needed just now.
Through YOUR generosity, a sum of £2,200 was passed on. £2,100 would have been sufficient to buy six generators, but the supplier has very generously sent SEVEN to the front-line city on your behalf.
The attached photographs show three of the generators being placed in position, ready to start generating much-needed power for the local inhabitants.
Once again a huge Thank You to all who participated in or attended the concert.

09/03/2023

If you haven't checked it out recently, go and have a look at the page on my website and see all the events that have helped to raise money for Ukraine, so far. At the bottom of the page, there are a few songs that you can listen to and download, with all proceeds going to Ukraine, of course.

https://www.all-things-considered.org/sing-for-ukraine

09/03/2023

A small snippet from last Friday's concert. Herding Cats

https://www.facebook.com/100055551486894/videos/6994332443947399

06/03/2023

Hi everyone
Last Friday we held the second ‘Sing For Ukraine’ concert in Manchester and raised the impressive sum of £2,140 (with donations still to come) with which we intend to buy generators to send to the people of Ukraine who are still living without reliable electricity supplies in many areas.
Last year, a ground swell of events under the umbrella heading ‘For Ukraine’ developed, with folk Evenings, Poetry Events, Pub Quizzes and even ’Art For Ukraine’ and ‘Hiking for Ukraine’ raising money to add to the grand total, which now stands at an impressive £16,102.
I’m writing to you today to ask if you might consider repeating your event, or staging something else in order to keep the supply of support flowing to Ukraine, as we enter a second year of conflict. The war may not be making the headlines as strongly as it did a year ago, but the suffering and deprivation continue unabated.
If you think you could help in this renewed endeavour please let me know your plans and I’ll do whatever I can to publicise them via ‘For Ukraine’ on Facebook and other contacts.
Thanks, in anticipation.

04/03/2023

I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to all the artistes (over 30 of them) our excellent sound engineer, Andy Melnyk all the bar staff and, of course, the audience who made last night's 'SING FOR UKRAINE #2' concert such a resounding success.
Altogether, with ticket sales, raffle takings, merchandise sales and donations we raised the magnificent sum of £2140, which is sufficient to send four generators to much needed families in Ukraine.
Salva Ukraini