ONE AMAZING TEDDINGTON MAN’S MISSION TO EDUCATE THE CHILDREN OF UKRAINE
Former school governor and a former mayor of Richmond, Robin Jowit, is a man on a mission.
Struck by the unreported plight and struggles of schoolchildren when Russia invaded Ukraine, he took matters into his own hands.
That’s impressive enough for anyone with a humanitarian spirit and acute sense of compassion but for an 87 year old man it is well beyond the call of duty.
Robin, a retired businessman, is embarking upon his THIRD fundraising campaign for another £50.000. His earlier efforts, which raised £100,000, have helped to supply laptops, sports equipment, flood lighting, electrical storage batteries, CPR dummies and essential educational items.
Previously, members of Kew Gardens Rotary raised £11,500 for a temporary home that Robin visited last November.
This third campaign has already raised over £17k as of today and is specifically aimed at STEM education for future engineers and entrepreneurs in subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics and engineering.
He has made two trips to Kyiv to see the worst-hit areas and specifically the numerous bombed-out schools, reduced to shells of rubble and no longer able to accommodate their pupils.
He was accompanied by the Founding President of the Kyiv City Rotary Club, Serhiy Zavadskyi when they visited schools outside of Kyiv and beyond the PR cameras.
“The children cannot go to school if there is no bunker to protect them so they are learning online or in safe places like the metro,” he said. “It is appalling. They have to attend schools in shifts in many cases.”
Robin, who lives in Elmfield Avenue, Teddington, is looking to the future of Ukraine when the country finally starts to rebuild after the devastation – both human and structurally – caused by Putin’s mindless and callous aggressors.
“We are now trying to help kids with the STEM subjects, science , technology, engineering and maths, because they are the people who will create the new Ukraine, the new generation of engineers who will see the country rebuilt and grow again.”
Recently, an education charity run by Sarah Brown, the wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Theirworld pledged to deliver 500 laptops to schools, which will be used by 21,600 senior pupils to sit their national multi-subject test (NMT) – to make university education a possibility.
She said: “It’s not just about providing technology – it’s about equipping Ukraine’s next generation with the skills they need to rebuild their country.”
Current discussions driven by President Trump are giving new hope for an end of the three-year war which has cost thousands of lives on both sides as well as billions of pounds worth of damage. It is estimated it will cost $400 billion to rebuild Ukraine.
Robin and his Rotarian counterparts in Ukraine closely monitor the deployment of the in country life-changing equipment provided to ensure it is reaching the right places and the right people.
“Laptops are so important because so many children are working online from home or in underground bunkers but so are the teachers. A member of Rotary in Kharkiv, currently living in Kew, has independently supplied 2,500 laptops to his home city, Kharkiv.
“I recall handing over a laptop to a teacher and she said ‘is this for my class?’ and I said ‘no it’s for you’ and I could see the tears in her eyes. “
The silver-haired father of three and ex-RAF pilot added: “I have been a school governor for 40 years and when the war started in 2022 I couldn’t see anything or read anything about the impact the war had on the children.
“So in January 2023 I thought I would go and investigate myself. We had a link through the Rotary in Kyiv so I visited eight schools outside Kyiv where the Russians had caused the most damage in their efforts to destroy the two airports.”
Robin initially focused on land west of Kyiv and in Makariv, Buzova, Borodyanka, Irpin and Bucha, which had been the scenes of some of the fiercest battles with Russian forces during the early months of the war.
“The children are suffering badly, they see no future ahead and they are the future of the country. They desperately need support for a proper education.
“I started fundraising with the help of the Rotary with a couple of big donations and the rest were private donations and initially we reached £50.000. The challenges for the children of Ukraine has really struck a chord.”
Some of the laptops were taken to hard-hit Kharkiv – a region seldom seen by the TV cameras or visited by foreign VIPS – and when Robin visited he got a first-hand view of the terrible conditions in which children live and study.
“Education in Kharkiv and the region takes place almost entirely online, because there are not enough storage facilities to organise the educational process in shelters.
“I was convinced that not only children need laptops, but also teachers, because their salaries are so poor, and they still have the burden of supporting their families.
Robin has tried to raise funds for his campaign by giving talks at local schools as well as clubs, societies and community groups in the area.
He jokes: “I am almost running out of friends now as I have been so busy tapping them up to raise money!”
Out of the 3139 educational establishments in Ukraine, 441 have been totally destroyed and Robin has visited many schools damaged or overrun by Russian invasion.
Robin was a founder governor of Turing House School in Teddington and was motivated to take the trip by his long standing investment in global educational standards.
“The heroes are the teachers. They’re having to bear the brunt of their own family situations and must also care for traumatised children.”
Robin who travelled alone, was accompanied in Ukraine by a Ukrainian Rotary member, Sergii Zavadsky
He was mayor of Richmond between 2005-2006, and has been a school governor for over 40 years. He was awarded an OBE for his services to business and charity, including his establishment of a retirement home in Portugal for British expats.
If this story, by an 87 year old on a mission, inspires you to help the children in Ukraine, please consider donating to the Rotary crowdfunding web site below.
Or go to this website: www.helpschoolsinukraine.com