Guest post: Mariia

Film workshop from Svitlana Pohasiy at The Cornish Bank, organised by Mariia

This summer I had the opportunity to join the organisation of events within Refugee Week 2025. For this chance I have to thank the wonderful organisations Inspiring Women Network (IWN) and Cornwall Refugee Resource Network (CRRN) that are both building a safe space where support and inspiration can be found.

While performing various tasks to prepare for the events for Refugee Week, I caught myself thinking that a few years ago it was difficult for me to imagine that I could be called a refugee. 

Moving to another country is always about a new period in life: different customs, different language. Many things, from small to large, that are so clear and obvious to locals, can turn out to be completely unusual and unfamiliar. But also, it is important what is a reason for moving abroad: marriage, desire for new experience or war in a native country. Unfortunately, the last is about my story. 

5 years ago, I was different. I was the kind of person who didn't flinch when bikers without mufflers passed by, who didn't know what an air raid siren sounded like, for whom the word "drone" didn't mean a threat, and waking up to explosions was abnormal. 5 years ago, I had no thoughts of moving to another country. 3 years ago in Kyiv, in my free time, I was weaving camouflage nets with other volunteers and naively hoping that the war in my native country would soon end.

Now I am in the UK, thankful to the UK government for this opportunity. Refugee status is not familiar to me, but I made this choice so as not to bring myself to complete exhaustion by living for more than two and a half years in war conditions. 

While learning English in various ways, getting to know British culture and local customs, I am currently living out of a suitcase. For me, it means: to adapt so as not to separate. Like most Ukrainians, it's hard for me to say anything about my future. Like most Ukrainians, my life is divided: one part of me smiles here, and the other silently screams after another massive attack on Ukraine.

In these conditions, a Community Event Coordinator position from IWN and CRRN became not just an opportunity to develop my skills and learn new ones, but also a real salvation. In this role, I was supposed to deliver several events for Refugee Week. Now I am comforted by the thought that these events were interesting not only for refugees, but that they brought together people of different ages and nationalities. For example, after watching the documentary One Day in My Life (made by young people aged 11-15 from Ukraine and the northern UK and edited by professional filmmakers Svitlana Pohasiy and Christo Wallers) there were interesting discussions, which indicated that the topics raised in the film are interesting for both Ukrainians and the British, in particular for parents and teachers.

The biggest challenge for me at the beginning of entering this position was that at that time I had been in the UK for about five months. I tried to find out what events had already taken place in previous years when I was still living in Ukraine. I tried to understand what events might be interesting for different people. I already had the skills to organise different events, but in Ukraine, in the country where I had lived the most of my life. Therefore, in order to immerse myself more in local cultural life, along with organising my own events, I started attending various other events (documentary film screenings, book presentation, etc.), where I paid attention to different organisational moments.

Such involvement in organising events, despite the varying complexity of the tasks and sometimes difficult challenges, helped me both with learning English and with my own adaptation, as well as establishing friendly relations with various interesting people and gave me the feeling that I was doing something truly important. 

Film workshop from Svitlana Pohasiy at The Cornish Bank, organised by Mariia

Over these two months, I managed to organise four events in Truro and in Falmouth including a film screening and 3 workshops from Ukrainian artists, but I would also like to add that I was fortunate to have support in bringing these events to fruition, and I am grateful to the various people who have entrusted me with this role, believed in my ideas, and offered their help. In particular, I would like to thank to:

• the Women’s Centre Cornwall, where I learned about this position and where I was supported at various stages of organising events;

• Nour Chakroun, Founder and CEO at Inspiring Women Network for introducing me to this position and also for supporting me at various stages;

• Rae Preston, Trustee at Cornwall Refugee Resource Network, for constant support, advice on both small and important issues, and for believing in what I do;

• Rebecca Radmore, Community Development Officer at Inspiring Women Network for help in promoting events;

• Michelle Chase, IWN Volunteer, for genuine interest and involvement in organising workshops at Malpas Road Community Centre.

I am especially grateful to two incredibly talented Ukrainian women who responded to my suggestions and found the time to hold their unique workshops, Ukrainian professional interior designer and artist Sofiia Vosnietsova and Ukrainian documentary filmmaker Svitlana Pohasiy.

Children’s Clay Modelling Workshop by Sofiia Vosnietsova, organised by Mariia

Sofiia presented her Still Life Watercolour Workshop and Children's Clay Modelling Workshop. She not only shared her knowledge and techniques, but also filled the space with her sincerity, and also picked up original ideas for creating still lifes and clay products.

Svitlana crossed almost all of England to come to Cornwall. At The Cornish Bank in Falmouth, she held her workshop on filming a documentary on a mobile phone. Svitlana made a short video about this workshop and her trip in general, which can be seen below:

One person alone does not create events. It is always the work of several or many people, where it is so important to hear and be heard. And then the dialogue between those who create and those for whom it is created is always important. That is why I am very grateful that this summer I was heard with my ideas in a country that is not my own, but where I received so much support.