Mission of Innocents Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

Cake provided by Free Cakes for Kids UK; made by Mimi’s Bakery (Photo Credit: Ivanna Skliarova)

Last Sunday, the Mission of Innocents Edinburgh and Coatbridge program sites joined forces to organize a Children’s Creativity Festival at the Wee Hub in Edinburgh, Scotland. The event was dedicated to the one-year anniversary of the organization.

Guests were dazzled by musical and dance performances, which showcased the development of the children’s talents and the evolution of a program that had its humble beginnings onboard refugee accommodation ships.

Community boys’s choir from Coatbridge, Energy, performs at the Children’s Creativity Festival in honor of the Mission of Innocents one-year anniversary. (Photo credit: Basya Volodarska)

There were also poetry readings, arts & crafts workstations, and a special performance on the bandura, a Ukrainian folk-instrument. Handmade Motanka dolls, paintings, and other works of art were proudly displayed at a crafts fair.

A deep sense of community was palpable. The resilience and strength of the Ukrainian people, especially the children, never ceases to amaze. 

Mission of Innocents was founded by Joyce Landry, CEO of Landry & Kling Global Ship Solutions. In 2022, Joyce moved to Scotland and lived alongside Ukrainian refugees on two temporary accommodation vessels her company sourced and was managing. She immediately recognized an urgent need to support the wellbeing of the nearly 800 children living onboard. Today, the programs continue to thrive on land in partnership with local community organizations.

We are grateful for our program directors, Nataliia Pidruchna and Olga Vivchar; their relentless drive and dedication to the children’s program is unmatched. A sincere thank you goes out to the teachers, staff and volunteers who, day in and day out, live and breathe our mission to nurture the self-worth and healing of the innocents—the children.

Mission of Innocents Founder, Joyce Landry (center), with Edinburgh Program Director, Nataliia Pidruchna (right), and Coatbridge Program Director, Olga Vivchar (left), surrounded by team members and volunteers from both program sites.

A heartfelt thank you to our community partners and steadfast supporters who helped make our one-year anniversary memorable and to those who continue to make our mission possible: Consul of Ukraine in Edinburgh- Andrii Kuslii, the North Lanarkshire Council, The Wee Hub, Hibernian Community Foundation, AUGB Glasgow, AUGB Edinburgh, the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Father Andriy Chornenko, Father Vasyl Kren, Basya Volodarska Photography and Free Cakes for Kids UK.