Surrey students bring in £2,000 to support inter-faith retreat in Ukraine

University students have raised thousands of pounds for community projects in Ukraine.

The University of Surrey Jewish students and staff collected almost £2,000 to sponsor an inter-faith retreat in the war-torn country with young Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Muslim and Protestant people.

Jewish students sold baked goods at the University of Surrey and encouraged private sponsors to become involved in the overseas project.

They split the money raised between the Libertas Centre in Lviv and the Tikva Orphanage in Odessa, which have been giving residents respite and retreat from the months-long conflict in Ukraine

Rachel Dutch, the Surrey Jewish student who launched the initiative, said “Like many we are concerned about the plight of ordinary Ukrainians impacted by war. We loved this interfaith project as it represents diversity in face of adversity. ”

Rabbi Alex Goldberg, dean of religious life at the University of Surrey said: “Our centre at the university has a formal link with the Libertas Interfaith Centre in Lviv. The Surrey students were the first to offer to help directly and their efforts were supported by two professional bakers who taught us all new recipes.”

Libertas centre director Taras Dyzubanskyy said “We are about to finish the Interfaith Rehabilitation Program ReStart. It was an incredible experience. We had amazing workshops and lectures about Jewish culture and religion. Some of the workshops included singing Tehillim and Niggun. The last few days have been filled with tears but also with smiles of young Ukrainians.”