Almost exactly two years ago we were going about our normal lives when the stunning news broke that a new and potentially deadly virus had arrived on our shores. It was to prove to be the start of a period when our lives were turned upside down -families lost loved ones, particularly the old and vulnerable. Young children, thank God, were largely unaffected but older children lost time at school and suffered gaps in their education. Many, particularly the elderly, suffered physically and mentally as they were confined to their homes during lockdown.
But the impact of the virus on our families and communities was not all negative. As always when people are tested they rise to the challenge and we saw amazing initiatives emerging up and down the country. Volunteer groups were organised to deliver food and medicines to those who could not get out. Others developed contact networks to phone those who were isolated. Many of us rediscovered the joy of adding a spirit of love and compassion towards our neighbours into our lives.
Four weeks ago the people of Ukraine were going about their daily lives in much the same way as we were two years ago. Men and women were going to work and taking their children to school. Children were playing with their friends and the elderly were receiving visits from their friends and families. Ukraine had come a long way since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
And then their lives were shattered by the actions of the brutal dictator Putin. As the reality of Putin’s invasion unfolded on our television screens we began to see the emergence of what has been called “the greatest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War”. Old and young have been murdered indiscriminately, their homes, their hopes and their dreams blown up and destroyed.
Millions of refugees have fled from Ukraine with little more than the clothes they stand up in. And the real tragedy is that as Putin adopts more and more desperate tactics in his attempts to break the country’s will, he has to resort to the complete destruction of cities like Mariupol. We must ask how long it will be ( if ever ) before people can return to live in certain parts of Ukraine.
As always in times of crisis, people all over Europe are rising to the challenge of helping and housing these desperate people. Our government seems to be reacting slowly in easing the administrative processes required to allow refugees to enter the UK. But when in time refugees do start to arrive, I am sure that our communities will rise to the challenge in the same way as they did during the Covid crisis. I dearly hope that we will see Ukrainians coming to our local area. They will not just need roofs over their heads, but jobs, replacement possessions, friends for their children and above all love and compassion from us all. I hope and pray that we will show them a true Yorkshire welcome in our homes and hearts.
John Hodges
Forcett Church warden