Presenting Hope Now Headquarters with books and Union Jack waivers.

Hope Now. My first day back at work is a visit to Cherkassy, a city on the Dnipro 220 km south of Kyiv.  A local charity, Hope Now, has invited me to view their work and to attend a concert of British music at the local concert hall.  Hope Now was founded in 1985 by British charity activist Vic Jackopson and it has been successfully operating in Ukraine since 1992. It  runs and supports many ventures in and around Cherkassy including a summer holiday camp Kompass Park for orphans (staffed partly by British volunteers) and a training centre for people with disabilities. I also see two schools supported by Hope Now, attend the concert in the evening, and meet the Governor of Cherkassy Oblast Oleksandr Cherevko.

It's wonderful to see civil society in action in Ukraine, making a real difference to people's lives.  The concert's good, too – great to hear Elgar and Andrew Lloyd Weber in the heart of Ukraine.