On 14th June the Durlston Community came together on the field for an incredible fundraising concert. The event saw pupils, staff, parents, family and neighbours gather with picnic blankets and camping chairs as they settled to watch a music concert. Children from Years 3 to 8 sang and played their instruments, the Durlston Jazz Band, Samba Band and Orchestra took to the stage to perform tracks old and new. The Choir Engine - a community choir, led by Durlston’s Director of Music, Mrs Caroline Moss, also joined the school to perform and support the event. Visitors attending the event kindly donated online in advance and then continued to contribute throughout the evening raising money for The Disasters Emergency Committee and New Forest For Ukraine. Organiser, Mrs Moss had further challenged the children to raise money in their year groups and the children made crafts to sell and games to play and circulated the field with their buckets on the night. Mrs Moss explained proudly “every child worked extremely hard to learn music for the evening and to contribute in their own way. They have done it all with enthusiasm and passion and I have been humbled by their commitment – it has been quite emotional at times but I hope this has been an opportunity for them to learn that sometimes the best way to make a noise is to come together as a team.”
As part of the evening Durlston were able to talk about the real experiences for their community, one parent had recently driven donations to the border and a representative from New Forest for Ukraine was also present to give thanks. The most poignant moment of the evening was undoubtedly the speeches from Ukrainian families who told of their heart-breaking but inspirational experiences from leaving their home in Ukraine to the journey that brought them to Durlston, where their children currently attend school as they stay with host families at the school. The fundraising efforts were given context as Mrs Katya Bazeliuk explained how one morning “I went into my children's room, they were playing on the floor, I looked up and saw a Russian tank through the window, the muzzle of tank was looking in our direction. Without a sound, I just took the children into another room. This was the first time I had a panic attack. And then, an endless series of days began, in which heating, electricity, mobile and Internet services disappeared in turn. Food and medicine began to fade from supermarket shelves, and Russian troops completely cut off the supply to our town…” Katya then continued to describe the journey they took through Europe, thanking people she met along the way for their kindness. Her full speech can be read online.
In total £4048 was raised as part of this event – a long way from the initial £1000 target!
