Sports camp for Ukrainian refugees being held in Ditchling

The sports camp will be run at the Ditchling's cricket ground in Lewes Road, Ditchling from today until Friday.

Children will be able to play cricket, football, tag-rugby, netball and handball over the three days. There will be between 50 to 100 children participating in the event.

Ellen Rowley is the programme manager for the event and will be one of the major people running the sports camp.

Ellen Rowley, left, is a programme manager at The Change Foundation charity

She said: “The summer camps will create a safe space for the Ukrainian children to connect with other young people that share the same life-changing experiences as they do.

“I’ve been out to Poland twice this year already, so I’ve seen first-hand how our sports delivery sessions can transform the wellbeing of young people affected by the conflict.

“Visiting the border and seeing young families walk through with one carrier bag of their belongings hit hard. I felt so useless at that moment. I wanted to give these families my everything.

“Before going out there, I thought I could imagine what I was going to see, but there are not enough words to explain what we did actually see.

"Pure innocence running around, young kids not aware of the extreme nature of it all.

CEO of the charity Andy Sellins, middle, was in Poland earlier this year offering sports sessions

“Not only do I feel we impacted the young people, but the adults were also getting involved and really sharing their stories to our team, discussing their journey and discussing our journey.

“Having them write powerful messages on their phone to us, such as ‘thank you’ or ‘my kids adore you’ meant more than anything.”

The sports camp is being run by The Change Foundation (TCF), a London-based charity.

CEO Andy Sellins, from Brighton, has worked delivering sports to vulnerable people for decades, from council estates in London back in 1981 to recently going out to Poland to offer sports to children.

The summer camp will be in Ditchling. Picture by Mark Wordy

He said: “For young people, sport is a way of having fun and meeting new people, as well as forgetting the outside world for a short time.

“In this case, the alternative for the refugee children was to sit in the holding centre staring at four walls - or go on a phone, no doubt beeping with messages from home.”

The Australian Embassy has been a supporter of TCF’s project, donating footballs and other sports equipment.

Aussie rules football will be on offer which will be watched on by Australian ambassador to Ukraine, Bruce Edwards, as well as two Australian Football League Europe representatives.

Andy Sellins before their football match with children at Przemysl in Poland

Ambassador Bruce said: “The Australian Embassy to Ukraine is delighted to support The Change Foundation’s project, through the donation of footballs and sporting equipment.

“These sessions provide parents with much-needed time to pause and organise next steps, while at the same time allowing kids to be kids, to have fun, and allow them to focus – however briefly – on something other than the horrors of the war in Ukraine they have been forced to flee.”

A similar event is planned for next month around Ukraine’s national day on August 24.

The charity has so far raised more than £48,000 of its £50,000 target for its Ukraine refugee sports project.