On 10 December at St Chad Church we displayed a Christmas Tree with Ukrainian messages of love and hope. A rock choir singing Christmas songs was performing, and we were surprised and delighted to find a real-life donkey there! We were also able to sell our Christmas cards designed by Ukrainian artists in support of Shropshire Supports Refugees.

More heartwarming things happened in December. One of our long standing friends, Sohrab and his lovely wife Denise Samari joined us for the afternoon, and cooked Persian food for
anyone who happened to be there. Such a warm-hearted couple giving such a warm-hearted gesture (heads up - he will be doing this more frequently as well!).

We’ve have so many thoughtful donations through our doors. Some of the groups that have raised money for us are:

• The Shropshire Music Trust who donated £1015 from their ex-cathedra concert
• Buildwas and Leighton churches and the Buildwas players, who have raised nearly £800 for us in recent weeks
• £170 from the Belle Vue Arts Festival from their carol singing

Many other people have also raised funds for us. We're so happy and grateful that people feel we're doing good with their hard-earned money.

We're glad to tell you that the Ukrainian Orel family visited the hub with gifts. Tatyana baked the delicious chocolate cake and donated money with her husband Serhii from their first salary, to support people who need help. They explained that it's their way to express gratitude for everything they've received in the hub during the last few months. It was very touching and generous. We're so happy to see that when we're able to give a hand to people, they rebuild their life step-by-step in a new place. Our team also says THANK YOU all, dear community, who helps us to support others.

Stop press!

On 22 December a choir came to sing for the Shrewsbury hub users. It was a lovely expression of welcome and social harmony.