Books for Ukrainian children in Ireland

Books are incredible tools for providing safety, comfort, distraction and joy and are something children fleeing a warzone desperately need. One of the main challenges for Ukrainian care-givers arriving in non-Ukrainian speaking countries like Ireland, is the lack of children books available to provide this comfort and security.

Hello and thank you for visiting my GoFundMe page! My name is Edel Finn and I am a mother of two small children living in Dublin. Like most children, my two are obsessed with books! Every night before bed they plead for "one more!" and no matter where we go, we always pack a bag full of their favourite books. When the war began in Ukraine, and Ireland started welcoming many refugees fleeing the horror being inflicted on their hometowns, I like many, was moved to help. With so many generously offering clothing, baby items and buggies, I wanted to see what else I could do. And knowing how important books are in my own children's lives, sourcing and providing children's books was my obvious answer.

When I first began this project, I came across a wonderful initiative being run by Fundacja Powszechnego Czytania (Universal Reading Foundation) in Poland. During WWII, the destruction of Polish books and libraries was widespread and the country's publishing industry was all but destroyed. This had a detrimental impact on literarcy rates in Poland and it is something that the Foundation wanted to avoid happening in Ukraine. The aim of this initiative was to not only provide much needed books to children who badly need them but to also ensure the survival of the publishing industry in Ukraine, and ultimately according to the Foundation, democracy. My first purchase of Ukrainian children's books was from this wonderful charity in Poland.

Since then, I have established strong connections with well known publishing houses in Ukraine such as Starylev along with some smaller, independent publishers to sell books to me on behalf of the campaign. All funds which I raise through this fundraiser are used to buy new books directly from Ukrainian publishers and authors for distribution to Ukrainian children living throughout Ireland.

For as little as €5, we can get a Ukrainian children's book into the hands of a Ukrainian child seeking refuge here. What a gift this will be for these innocent children during this unimaginably traumatic time. Please donate what you can and support this important cause.

Thank you

Edel Finn

*Image illustration by Pawel Pawlak who kindly permitted me to use it for this fundraiser.