On Sunday 22nd May, Petersfield Area Churches Together (PACT) in association with Agencies Working Together (AWT) welcomed Ukrainian guests and their hosts at St Peter’s Church. The event commenced with tea and cake provided by St Peter’s, and was followed by a welcome from Rev Will Hughes, Ivan Huntington Thresher (PACT Chairman), and Petersfield’s newly elected Town Mayor Cllr Peter Clist. The Mayor welcomed the Ukrainian guests to Petersfield and thanked the hosts, organisers and St Peter’s church members for their hospitality. He then remarked that his own (German) mother had been a refugee in World War 2: her whole family had fled as the Russians had advanced westwards beyond Berlin in 1945.
The 18 guests and 15 hosts were then invited to identify their current needs so that Petersfield Area Churches Together and Agencies Working Together could work to provide solutions, where possible.