Every year, Brightseeds finds free educational placements for Ukrainian children displaced by the war and living in the UK as part of their Summer Schools initiative; this year, we’re taking part.

As the war in Ukraine continues, its devastating effects linger for one group of people more than any other: its children. Between Covid-19 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the country’s younger generation have now experienced over seven years of interrupted education. And while it’s easy to think that once children and their families have escaped Ukraine their problems are solved, displaced kids in the UK and Ireland face a whole new set of challenges: isolated by remote schooling, struggling to learn English, displaced from home and raised in a new country by single parents – often because one remains on the front lines, or has been lost to the conflict already – these children face a steep learning curve.