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**A Call for Help**

**Time to Make Trench Candles!**

What is a trench candle?

Trench or Hindenburg candles were used in World War 1 by troops in the trenches for light, warmth and cooking. They are made using a tin, cardboard and molten wax. They can burn for up to 8 hours. We have been making some of these and sending them to Ukraine.  **Why make them?** About 60% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed. In a recent call from Kiev, Nataliya Pipa, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, warned Rosie that her computer battery might die as the capital city had been without power for12 hours. **How can you help?** You can provide clean empty tins for the Scrubbery to use and candle stubs to melt down. Or, even better, make some yourselves! **Instructions**: 1) Clean tin and remove the label 2) Use corrugated cardboard from lightweight boxes eg. Amazon, Hello Fresh 3) Measure the height of the tin (we will use 11cm in this example) 4) Cut a strip of cardboard, 2 cm wide and twice the height of the tin to form the wick. 5) Cut the remaining card into long strips the same width as the height of the tin ( eg. 11cm) 6) Place the wick on a long strip of cardboard and roll it up as tightly possible to fit in the tin. This may take several strips of cardboard. 7) Optional- Melt any old candle stubs and gently pour the molten wax into the tin completely covering all the cardboard and filling up the tin. Otherwise bring them into The Scrubbery and we will melt the wax and fill the tins. There is a [video](https://youtu.be/cX1dfEIK_O4%20(https://youtu.be/cX1dfEIK_O4)) that describes how to make these also. Olga has delivered 50 trench candles to a battalion in the Donbas region. She was fitted with a helmet and flak jacket as she was going to a forward base. Included in the delivery was the enormous camouflage net (21x 3 metres) and a number of  knitted and crocheted helmet camouflage nets. A huge thank you and well done to everyone who worked on these two projects. Getting the enormous net down the stairs to the van posed a significant risk of tripping and falling, with the weight of it and the dangling bits of fabric, so in the end Rosie cleared a space beneath the balcony and dropped it to the pavement below! Olga’s next delivery is to Kraviy Rux. There is a desperate need for men’s clothing; blankets; non-sterile surgical gowns; medical equipment; painkillers; dressings and bandages; sterile needles; towels. Any donations are welcome. Thank you to everyone who responded to our urgent request for towels to send to the front line hospital in Ukraine. We had 75 within 2 days and sent them on the 3rd day. **Other News** **Dresses around the World Update** We are delighted to say that 63 dresses for ages 2-18 and 90 cotton briefs have been sent to an orphanage with 160 resident children in the Vinnytsia region via a charity called SOTA. **Sparkle**

Drawstring bags were delivered to the [Sparkle charity](https://www.stmichaelssouthfields.org/sparkle-together) based in St. Michael’s church in Southfields. They run many different activities for young and old people, describing their work as:

*“Intergenerational work is a ‘win-win’ for everyone. There are benefits for the older people, such as tackling loneliness and isolation to improving health and wellbeing, and big benefits for younger people too in terms of building confidence and empathy, developing communication skills and even reducing ageism. In times gone by, intergenerational relationships would have been common-place but in today’s society the generations are increasingly segregated. Sparkle aims to bridge that divide and create a community where intergenerational relationships can flourish.” *

The Scrubbery bags are being used in a collaboration between grandfriends and children who play together with glove puppets. The bags are for the puppets for hide in. Rosie gave a talk to the Women in Fellowship, Wimbledon branch which was very well received. Thank you for their support with donations of goods and money, and the possibility of working together in the future. Thank you also to Anne Chester, Kate Kirkland and Christine Facon for kindly arranging this.  **Scrubbery at the Oasis Academy ** Thanks to the Miles Trust who have awarded £1000 to be used to buy non-fiction books relating to the school curriculum and to make period costumes (initially Tudor) to support classroom learning. The Eco Reading Challenge is now complete. There will be a presentation on it at the end of term and a full report in the next newsletter. This was a collaboration between the Scrubbery and Putney High School. In Japan the crane is a traditional sign of long life and good fortune. There is a legend that if you fold 1,000 paper cranes you can make a wish and it will come true. At the Oasis Academy, a Scrubbery initiative to fold 1000 cranes as a mindfulness exercise for ourselves and as a wish for peace and happiness in the world has been taking place. 

This is inspired by the story of a courageous young Japanese girl called Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was a young girl, aged 2, who lived through the bombing of Hiroshima, when most of her neighbours died. She eventually died of leukaemia, caused by radiation released by the bomb, ten years later. Her determination to fold 1,000 paper cranes, symbolising her hope for peace, and her courageous struggle with her illness inspired her classmates. After her death they started a national campaign to build the children’s peace statue in memory of Sadako and the many other children who were victims of the bombing of Hiroshima. We have joined the peace crane project that developed out of Sadako’s story. The peace crane project invites every student on the planet to fold an origami crane, write a message of peace on its wings, then exchange it with another student somewhere in the world.

Red thread and gold beads have been used to string them together. The red thread represents the thread of life and it connects the cranes together in unity and community. Traditionally gold is the colour of good fortune. Starting each thread with this quality is a meaningful beginning.

We have contacted Nataliya Pipa MP Lviv to find a school to link with Oasis Academy direct. English is now the second language in Ukraine and we hope that this will support Ukrainian youngsters not only in learning English but also by knowing that other people around the world care about them and their future. **Call-outs**

There is a desperate need for men’s clothing; blankets; non-sterile surgical gowns; medical equipment; painkillers; dressings and bandages; sterile needles; towels. Any donations are welcome. If anyone feels they would like to donate, please bring the items to the Scrubbery. If you have information to include in the newsletter please send it to Jo ([Joanna.teverson@yahoo.co.uk](mailto:Joanna.teverson@yahoo.co.uk))