Elijah's smile

Elijah (Illya) is a wonderful 7-year-old Ukrainian boy who the war in his country has sadly displaced. He is staying in the UK with his mum and disabled father. Whilst they are safe and supported, they do not have funds to support Elijah in the UK with his love and talent for Short Track Speed Skating.

This is something that he, his friends and his community enjoyed in Ukraine before needing to find sanctuary with his family here in the UK.

Still, he longed to begin to live as close to a ‘normal’ life as possible and looked for an ice rink that hosted speed skating.

He recently visited us at Altrincham Speed Skating Club - where his devotion to the sport shone through in his smile. His mum said it was the first time he smiled in the four months he had been in the UK.

The hurdle we need to overcome and require your kind help with is transport and equipment.

As a club, we want to help Elijah to keep on smiling and doing what he loves doing the most - skating. He had to leave all his equipment and many other personal items behind in Ukraine, and we would like to try and buy him a pair of skates. Our club, other skaters and parents, have already donated other equipment items, and we have waived the club fees and training session costs to help.

Elijah and his mum are so dedicated to the sport and making his life as usual as possible that they make a two-hour bus journey to the rink to train on a Sunday evening.

The problem then arises in getting them home safely. The buses stop running before the session ends, and getting them home on a bus at a decent hour is challenging or impossible to get Elijah into bed ready for school the next day.

Members of Altrincham Speed Skating Club have been paying for their taxi home to help them get home quickly and safely, but we are a small club and need help to support Elijah.

Elijah's mum says that Elijah spends his week dreaming of Sunday and being able to be back on the ice.

Please help keep the smile on this seven-year-old boy’s face during his stay in the UK and help us provide safe journeys and some equipment to keep up his love of sport and go further.

Thank you.