Ukrainian artists visit school as 'thank you' to Bedford

A group of Year 8 pupils from Castle Newnham School had the opportunity to take part in a workshop with Ukrainian artists.

The couple – Sergey and Maria, who run the Art Studio Tsymbal in Bedford – came to the town as refugees after their studio and home were destroyed.

And they’ve been running workshops and offered this session for free as a way of giving back to the town, because in their words “people of Bedford have been so kind to us”.

Ali Boston, assistant principal, said: “Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed the activity and produced some beautiful work. Working with Sergey and Maria was a real privilege and we are happy they are safe in Bedford and able to continue their work and share it with our community.”

Nicole Millard from the school's modern foreign languages department is a Russian speaker and was able to act as translator for the session.