UWL students from Drama Studio London visited Krakow in Poland for their annual European residency last week and stepped into a world far bigger than the theatre. 

Alongside their daily workshops, the theatre students found themselves witnessing first-hand the destruction and chaos from the invasion in Ukraine, as Krakow became a hot spot for Ukrainian refugees. Wanting to support the relief effort, the students contributed by distributing supplies, delivering necessary items and raising over £16,000 through online donations.  

Brian Voakes, a DSL student studying an MFA in Professional Acting with Independent Production, said:

Our hotel became a refugee base for the first families out of the Western- Ukrainian border. We talked to the newcomers and engaged with their harrowing stories, and I wanted to help. So, I went on social media to see if any friends wanted to contribute to our grass roots effort to get relief to these people in the very first days of this conflict. I was hoping to gather up a few hundred pounds to buy supplies.” 

However, the post went viral and in 24 hours they had raised £16,000 through donations from around the world. 

The money was donated to support a special service in the city for pregnant Ukrainian women refugees, supplying their new arrivals with boxes of clothes, toys, food & nappies. 

We visited the centre about 10 minutes after the money hit their crowd funding account and received a massive hug when these women realised that we had made the donation. The operation is so good. They hope to now take care of 100 more refugee women.” 

This week was a lot more than we expected – it gave us an important lesson for theatre and for life.”