EIGHTY EIGHT YEAR OLD TEDDINGTON MAN RETURNS TO UKRAINE TO SUPPORT HUMANITARIAN MISSION
A remarkable 88 year old Teddington man who has been a one-man humanitarian mission for Ukraine is returning to the war-devastated country next month.
Robin Jowit, who lives in Elmfield Avenue, is a prominent member of the Kew Rotary Club which has helped him raise £155.000.
The money has already been allocated to much-needed school items, like white boards, 3D printers, 900 airbeds for use in the bunkers when the sirens sound, water filters, batteries and small generators.
Robin, who is making the journey alone to the country, will travel extensively within Ukraine including dangerous areas most impacted by the conflict, to check the items have arrived safely to the schools.
His hectic itinerary includes train journeys and car trips to Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and Sumy where he will be greeted by local civil dignitaries as well as meeting schoolchildren and local Rotary officials, who have helped organise the in-country logistics.
Robin, a former Mayor of Richmond who also has an OBE and served in the RAF, launched his campaign shortly after the war started in 2022 because he felt the plight of the children and their educational needs were being ignored. This will be his fourth visit.
He feels strongly that today’s children in Ukraine are the ‘engineers and architects of tomorrow’ whose job will be to rebuild Ukraine post war and they need all the educational support they can get.
He told Teddington Town: “I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of the local community which is how the Rotary has raised so much money and I need to make our money is being used responsibly and properly.
“It is the children I worry about and their education. They need so much and we can make a big difference to them by providing simple things like computers, printers and airbeds. They have the future of their country in their hands.”