Higham Celebrates Its Friendship With Novyi Bilous
- Kent With Ukraine
- Aug 15
- 4 min read
Higham’s growing friendship with the Ukrainian community of Novyi Bilous was at the heart of this year’s Higham Summer Fun Day, as Kent With Ukraine joined residents for an afternoon celebrating the village’s links with Ukraine.
The Kent With Ukraine team was delighted to be part of the event, speaking with families, local residents and community groups about the partnership between Higham Parish Council and the Novyi Bilous Community in the Chernihiv Region.
For Higham, the twinning has quickly become about far more than a formal agreement between two councils. It is developing into a genuine friendship between two communities.
At our stall today residents were able to learn more about Novyi Bilous, the wider Chernihiv Region and the practical work taking place to strengthen links between the two areas.
One of the real highlights of the afternoon was hearing directly from pupils at Higham Primary School about the friendships they have already begun to build with children at their sister school, Staryi Bilous Lyceum.
Through pen-pal exchanges and video calls, children in Higham have been able to speak directly with pupils in Ukraine, learn about one another’s lives and begin building relationships that go well beyond the formalities of a twinning agreement.
Kent With Ukraine has been proud to help facilitate those links alongside the Department of Economic Development of the Chernihiv Regional Administration, working closely with the schools and local partners in both communities.
It was particularly encouraging to hear how much the pupils themselves have enjoyed taking part and for Kent With Ukraine, that is what makes partnerships like this worthwhile. A twinning agreement can be signed in a matter of minutes. Building a real relationship takes much longer.
It comes through letters being exchanged between schoolchildren, video calls between classrooms, local residents raising funds, community groups offering support and people on both sides taking a genuine interest in one another.
Higham is already showing what that can look like.
For Ukrainian children growing up during wartime, these relationships can also provide an important reminder that they have friends far beyond Ukraine’s borders. And for children in Higham, the partnership offers a unique opportunity to learn about another country, another culture and the realities facing young people their own age. These are precisely the kinds of relationships we want the Higham–Novyi Bilous twinning to encourage.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the people of Higham have repeatedly demonstrated their solidarity with Ukraine. Residents have supported fundraising events, donated humanitarian aid, knitted and taken part in moments of remembrance and solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
The twinning with Novyi Bilous has given that support a much more personal focus. Ukraine is no longer simply somewhere seen on the television news or read about in the newspapers. Higham now has a direct connection with a real Ukrainian community — with its own schools, families, local leaders and young people and that matters.
It means that when people in Higham support Ukraine, they can increasingly see where that friendship is leading and who is benefiting from it.
It also provides the people of Novyi Bilous with something equally important: the knowledge that a community in Kent continues to stand alongside them.
The relationship between Higham Primary School and Staryi Bilous Lyceum is already one of the strongest examples of what the wider partnership can achieve.
The two schools have embraced the opportunity to build a genuine sister-school relationship, giving children in both countries the chance to communicate directly. For the pupils involved, these are not abstract international relations.
They are friendships. A letter from Higham can be read by a child in Ukraine. A video call can allow two classrooms hundreds of miles apart to see each other, ask questions and discover how much they have in common. We are proud to be helping to connect communities.
Kent With Ukraine Founder and Higham Councillor Jordan Meade said:
“What we saw at the Summer Fun Day was exactly what we hoped this twinning would become.“It is not simply an agreement between two councils or a name on a piece of paper. It is children in Higham talking to children in Ukraine. It is local people learning about Novyi Bilous. It is community groups, schools and residents deciding that this friendship matters.“One of the best parts of the afternoon was speaking with pupils from Higham Primary School and hearing how much they have enjoyed their pen-pal friendships and video calls with Staryi Bilous Lyceum.“Higham should be incredibly proud of the part it is playing. This is a village that has stood with Ukraine from the beginning and is now building a friendship that I hope will last for generations.”
The Summer Fun Day was also a reminder of the strength of community life in Higham. Despite the extreme heat, families turned out, local organisations came together and there was a real sense of village spirit throughout the afternoon.
For Kent With Ukraine, it was a valuable opportunity to talk about the work being done in Ukraine, but also simply to be part of a local event in a community that has done so much to support our work.
We are extremely grateful to everyone who stopped at the stall, asked questions, made donations or simply came over for a conversation.
A huge thank you also goes to Iris Smith, Cllr Helen Ashenden, Cllr Derek Ashenden, Cllr Alan Metcalf and Cllr Jordan Meade for running the Kent With Ukraine stall throughout the afternoon, and to Higham Parish Council and everyone involved in organising the Summer Fun Day.
Slava Ukraini! God Save the King!
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