Volunteers renovated former children's home which now host Ukrainian foster families

The building which once hosted a children's home in Szamocin is owned by Chodzież County. The structure was put up for sale but there were no offers. As the desolate building was just standing and falling into ruin, county authorities decided to use it as shelter for Ukrainian children.

The county earmarked 60,000 zlotys for this purpose, but it was not enough to cover the cost of renovation. Local residents came to the rescue. They grabbed their drills, screw guns, hammers, paintbrushes and rollers, and got to work.

"We must help. You don't do it for plaudits, but for the children," said Rafał Szłapka, one of the volunteers.

Among the volunteers were local children's home pupils and even foreign guests. In unison, they removed the old wallpapers, raised and painted new walls, laid new floors and assembled furniture.

"They came from Sweden I think, a married couple - they heard about the initiative. They came for four days and spent two of them on cleaning, laying tiles and things like that," said Michał Szejner who had organised the initiative.

In total, 120 people were involved in the works.

"The building was ready after three weeks. "There are new kitchens, new household appliances, new TV, the rooms have been repainted, and floors have been replaced in virtually all of them. The house is very well prepared and you can normally function here," Szejner said.

The building has now become home to 40 people, 32 of which are children. In total, four foster families, who fled from a war-torn Kherson area in Ukraine.

"These people had travelled around Ukraine for two weeks. In cooperation with Lviv (authorities), we organised transport which took place on Monday, from Lviv to Przemyśl and then to Szamocin," said Chodzież Country deputy mayor Mariusz Witczuk.