Coleen Rooney says Unicef support for Ukrainian families is a ‘lifeline'
The 39-year-old said she could not 'imagine' what Ukrainian refugee families must be going through, emphasising how important it is to stand with them.
Coleen Rooney, right, talks to Yuliia Karpenko in a park near Krakow main train station (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA)
She said: 'I can relate to being a mum and the first thing (you would do) in that situation is to get out of danger, to make sure that the kids are OK and we can find somewhere.
'I couldn't imagine what was going through their heads… the emotions.'
While in Krakow she visited the Spilno Hub, which helps families find accommodation and offers access to a range of services such as psychosocial support and legal assistance.
The Unicef-run centre has helped people such as Yuliia Karpenko, her sister Olisia and Yuliia's four-year-old daughter Anastasiia 'Nastia' who were forced to flee Ukraine with just one bag on an evacuation train.
She said: 'Hearing about the lasting effect the war in Ukraine has had on Yuliia and her family will stay with me for a long time.
'Her determination to create a safe and supportive community for her family in Poland really shone through.
'Thanks to Unicef, she's been able to meet other mums, learn Polish and find work in a kitchen.
'And her daughter, Nastia, has been able to make friends with other children and spend time playing, just as any four-year-old should.
Coleen Rooney with children and workers of the Sun Centre during classes (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA)
'It was a privilege meeting Yuliia and her family and to see how money raised by Soccer Aid for Unicef really is changing lives.
'Leaving their home and not knowing when they'll be able to return was so hard for them.
'But spending time at the Spilno Hub has helped them to feel safe.
'It supports families who've fled the war in Ukraine in so many ways.
'It's a very special place.'
During the trip, Rooney visited the Education Rehabilitation Centre, a specialist school funded by the children's organisation which supports young people with disabilities.
There she met a young autistic boy, Murat, who could not talk when they first left Ukraine and has since been able to say a few words.
She said: 'It's such a calming place and the teachers there are so supportive and caring.
Coleen Rooney (right) with Murat during a sensory therapy class (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA)
'Kateryna (Murat's mother) told me that the changes she's seen in Murat have been incredible.
'When they left Ukraine he wasn't able to talk but he's now started to say some words and can communicate with other children too.
'She said that when they arrived in Poland she felt hopeless but, thanks to Unicef, she can now see a future there for them.'
Donations made to Soccer Aid for Unicef will be doubled this year up to £5 million thanks to the Children's Investment Fund Foundation.
Rooney said: 'As a mum myself, I couldn't help but think of my own boys when I met children like Nastia and Murat.
'Seeing them smile and play despite everything they've been through was incredibly moving.
'Hearing their stories really reminded me how important it is that we stand with families who've been through so much, every child deserves a safe space to play – as a parent this is all you want for your child.'
To donate to Soccer Aid for Unicef and support children around the world, visit socceraid.org.uk/donate.
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Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Coleen Rooney says Unicef support for Ukrainian families is a ‘lifeline'
The media personality recently travelled to Poland with Unicef to see how Soccer Aid donations have directly supported Ukrainian families who were forced to flee their homes. The 39-year-old said she could not 'imagine' what Ukrainian refugee families must be going through, emphasising how important it is to stand with them. She said: 'I can relate to being a mum and the first thing (you would do) in that situation is to get out of danger, to make sure that the kids are OK and we can find somewhere. 'I couldn't imagine what was going through their heads… the emotions.' While in Krakow she visited the Spilno Hub, which helps families find accommodation and offers access to a range of services such as psychosocial support and legal assistance. The Unicef-run centre has helped people such as Yuliia Karpenko, her sister Olisia and Yuliia's four-year-old daughter Anastasiia 'Nastia' who were forced to flee Ukraine with just one bag on an evacuation train. She said: 'Hearing about the lasting effect the war in Ukraine has had on Yuliia and her family will stay with me for a long time. 'Her determination to create a safe and supportive community for her family in Poland really shone through. 'Thanks to Unicef, she's been able to meet other mums, learn Polish and find work in a kitchen. 'And her daughter, Nastia, has been able to make friends with other children and spend time playing, just as any four-year-old should. Coleen Rooney with children and workers of the Sun Centre during classes (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA) 'It was a privilege meeting Yuliia and her family and to see how money raised by Soccer Aid for Unicef really is changing lives. 'Leaving their home and not knowing when they'll be able to return was so hard for them. 'But spending time at the Spilno Hub has helped them to feel safe. 'It supports families who've fled the war in Ukraine in so many ways. 'It's a very special place.' During the trip, Rooney visited the Education Rehabilitation Centre, a specialist school funded by the children's organisation which supports young people with disabilities. There she met a young autistic boy, Murat, who could not talk when they first left Ukraine and has since been able to say a few words. She said: 'It's such a calming place and the teachers there are so supportive and caring. Coleen Rooney (right) with Murat during a sensory therapy class (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA) 'Kateryna (Murat's mother) told me that the changes she's seen in Murat have been incredible. 'When they left Ukraine he wasn't able to talk but he's now started to say some words and can communicate with other children too. 'She said that when they arrived in Poland she felt hopeless but, thanks to Unicef, she can now see a future there for them.' Donations made to Soccer Aid for Unicef will be doubled this year up to £5 million thanks to the Children's Investment Fund Foundation. Rooney said: 'As a mum myself, I couldn't help but think of my own boys when I met children like Nastia and Murat. 'Seeing them smile and play despite everything they've been through was incredibly moving. 'Hearing their stories really reminded me how important it is that we stand with families who've been through so much, every child deserves a safe space to play – as a parent this is all you want for your child.' To donate to Soccer Aid for Unicef and support children around the world, visit
The Herald Scotland
7 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Coleen Rooney says Unicef support for Ukrainian families is a ‘lifeline'
The 39-year-old said she could not 'imagine' what Ukrainian refugee families must be going through, emphasising how important it is to stand with them. Coleen Rooney, right, talks to Yuliia Karpenko in a park near Krakow main train station (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA) She said: 'I can relate to being a mum and the first thing (you would do) in that situation is to get out of danger, to make sure that the kids are OK and we can find somewhere. 'I couldn't imagine what was going through their heads… the emotions.' While in Krakow she visited the Spilno Hub, which helps families find accommodation and offers access to a range of services such as psychosocial support and legal assistance. The Unicef-run centre has helped people such as Yuliia Karpenko, her sister Olisia and Yuliia's four-year-old daughter Anastasiia 'Nastia' who were forced to flee Ukraine with just one bag on an evacuation train. She said: 'Hearing about the lasting effect the war in Ukraine has had on Yuliia and her family will stay with me for a long time. 'Her determination to create a safe and supportive community for her family in Poland really shone through. 'Thanks to Unicef, she's been able to meet other mums, learn Polish and find work in a kitchen. 'And her daughter, Nastia, has been able to make friends with other children and spend time playing, just as any four-year-old should. Coleen Rooney with children and workers of the Sun Centre during classes (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA) 'It was a privilege meeting Yuliia and her family and to see how money raised by Soccer Aid for Unicef really is changing lives. 'Leaving their home and not knowing when they'll be able to return was so hard for them. 'But spending time at the Spilno Hub has helped them to feel safe. 'It supports families who've fled the war in Ukraine in so many ways. 'It's a very special place.' During the trip, Rooney visited the Education Rehabilitation Centre, a specialist school funded by the children's organisation which supports young people with disabilities. There she met a young autistic boy, Murat, who could not talk when they first left Ukraine and has since been able to say a few words. She said: 'It's such a calming place and the teachers there are so supportive and caring. Coleen Rooney (right) with Murat during a sensory therapy class (Unicef/Brykczynski/PA) 'Kateryna (Murat's mother) told me that the changes she's seen in Murat have been incredible. 'When they left Ukraine he wasn't able to talk but he's now started to say some words and can communicate with other children too. 'She said that when they arrived in Poland she felt hopeless but, thanks to Unicef, she can now see a future there for them.' Donations made to Soccer Aid for Unicef will be doubled this year up to £5 million thanks to the Children's Investment Fund Foundation. Rooney said: 'As a mum myself, I couldn't help but think of my own boys when I met children like Nastia and Murat. 'Seeing them smile and play despite everything they've been through was incredibly moving. 'Hearing their stories really reminded me how important it is that we stand with families who've been through so much, every child deserves a safe space to play – as a parent this is all you want for your child.' To donate to Soccer Aid for Unicef and support children around the world, visit
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Return of white storks 'emblem' for nature recovery, conservationists say
The birds could once be seen in Britain's skies and building their huge nests on roofs and buildings as well as trees, but disappeared centuries ago as a breeding bird due to hunting and habitat loss. While migratory storks still visit from the continent, conservationists say they need security of numbers and the absence of existing colonies mean they do not settle to breed. So since 2016, a reintroduction project in southern England has sought to create new colonies of rehabilitated injured storks, which can act as a 'magnet' to draw in other wild birds. The scheme has enabled a wild population of breeding storks re-establish itself for the first time in centuries and delivered unexpected benefits for other birds and wildlife, conservationists say. The white stork project uses rescued non-flying birds from Warsaw Zoo, Poland, some of which are kept at Cotswold Wildlife Park where they breed, with their young released from Knepp Estate, in West Sussex and Wadhurst Park in East Sussex, to encourage them to come back there to nest. Other Polish birds, some of which have injuries that mean they can fly short distances but not migrate, live in or around pens on the estates, breeding and establishing the founding colonies that will attract other storks. At Knepp, the storks are in a landscape that has been 'rewilded' since 2000, with former agricultural land turned over to natural processes using animals including longhorn cattle, red and fallow deer and pigs, whose grazing and foraging help create a mosaic of scrub, disturbed ground and grassland. There are also areas of woodland, the river has been restored to a more natural state and in just a few years, beavers in an enclosure have turned a small stream into wetlands rich in dragonflies, damselflies and other insects. Walking through the scrub and grassland punctuated by large trees, it is hard to miss the metre-tall storks soaring through the skies or stalking through the grass, while the distinctive bill 'clattering' they make echoes through the landscape. White stork project officer Laura Vaughan-Hirsch said they 'love it' at Knepp, where the rewilding process has created healthy soils and habitat and an abundance and diversity of insect life. While they are primarily wetland birds, 'they love mixed habitats, grasslands, woodlands and lovely big trees to nest in, anything that's insect-rich, worm-rich, that's their thing', she said. The first chicks were born to birds nesting in the trees in 2020, and non-flying storks produced their first young in ground nests in the fox-proof enclosure in 2023. This year Ms Vaughan-Hirsch said at least six birds born at Knepp have returned after an annual migration to Africa to nest in the colony, including one who has set up home in the same tree as her parents, and has been stealing nesting material from them. The team are expecting around 40 fledglings in 2025, including youngsters from the ground-nesting storks which are hand-fed pieces of fish to supplement food their parents can source in the pen. The storks' success at Knepp shows that 'sort the habitat out, the soils, insects, healthy water systems, and then your storks will come eventually,' she said. 'We all see the white stork as a big charismatic species but what it really is, is an emblem for nature recovery,' she said. With each chick needing 35kg of food, such as crickets or worms, between hatching and fledging, their survival in the landscape is an indicator of how healthy the ecosystem is. And in turn the storks' nests – which can weigh up to a tonne – in trees or even on roofs attract an array of insects, while wrens, collared doves, house sparrows and, this year for the first time, blue tits have been seen nesting in the vast structures. Isabella Tree, who owns Knepp with her husband Charlie Burrell, said their impact on other species was an 'unexpected outcome' of the reintroduction. 'What are we are seeing is that even species that don't have a reputation as being keystone species have an effect on ecosystems. 'They are doing extraordinary things that we had never really known about.' And she said: 'We think we know what impact a species will have on the landscape, but how can we when our landscape is so fragmented and so depleted. The only way to find out is to try it.' 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'We recognise ourselves in them, they kind of walk like us, they look like brigadiers on a parade ground when they're walking across the fields, and when they're flying they look like pterodactyls,' she said. Further projects to reintroduce storks are under way in Cornwall and Devon. And at Knepp it is hoped the birds will spread out from the estate and start nesting away from the current colony, raising the possibility that, in some areas at least, they will become a familiar sight in the skies, trees and on rooftops again.
