By Margie Barbour

The first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia was marked with a special service at the Chapel in the Garden, in Bridport, last Friday.

The Reverend John Harley led the event, welcoming the local Ukrainian community to the chapel for a service of silence and prayers, music and poetry. 

The chapel was filled with daffodils and irises, yellow and blue to reflect the Ukrainian flag.

Many Ukrainians attended, bringing their children and sitting together, hushed by the solemnity of the day.

Reflections on the enormity of the past year made the service a deeply moving one, and when the opportunity came to light a candle of remembrance, many could say nothing, overcome by tears.

Chris Savory, a member of the congregation, said: "The mood in the Chapel was very sombre, it was so moving to be amongst people whose lives had been thrown into loss and uncertainty by the war, and who despite finding a welcome in Bridport were longing to return to their former lives, to go home"

The Lord's Prayer was read in English and in Ukrainian by Inna Vlasiuk, and poems by Ukrainian children, as well as the poem 'Resistance' by the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. 

Music including 'A Moonlight Night' by the Gimnazija Orchestra and a violin concerto by Myroslav Skoryk filled the chapel with the familiar sound of Ukrainian music.

Many of the 70 people present stayed for coffee and cake in the library at the end of the service, sharing their hopes and prayers as well as deep fears for the future.

Two young Ukrainians, who attend local schools, were shown the shrapnel damage from World War II in the chapel itself, which has not been fully repaired as a way to help the congregation connect to the destructive power of war.

A collection was made at the service and £285 will be given to the Brid Valley Rotarians to pass to Rotarians in Ukraine for humanitarian causes.  

The following day, a popular concert was held at the chapel, with Mitch Hiller, John Malcolm, John Hinsley and Simon Richmond delighting the audience with their medley of popular music, from Beatles to Motown and the classics from the movies.

Mitch told stories from his long life in the music business, getting trapped in a lift on his way to an audition wit Earth Wind and Fire, and he sang 'Build Me Up, Buttercup', a hit song he had recorded with The Foundations.

The concert raised funds for the chapel's fundraising campaign and collected £55 from a raffle for the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey, which has been sent to the Disasters Emergency Committee.