Distinctive colouring books are being given away free to young people fleeing from Ukraine. “Blue and Yellow – Hope for Ukraine” is proving an effective way to help. Children simply colour in shapes and patterns, are totally absorbed, and gradually find calmness.
The colouring books are produced by Tapestry Foundation (TIEF), an international non-profit organisation with experienced board members across North America, Eastern and Western Europe. The book was distributed in Romania thanks to our partner, Transylvania College Foundation.
“Being a refugee from war is one of the most traumatic life events imaginable. You pack a suitcase at an hour’s notice, leaving behind everything in your life – home, possessions, livelihood, community, everything you know, and escape at great risk to reach safety in the west,” explained Robert Porzak, an academic professor in Lublin now helping some of over two million refugees recently arrived in Poland.
“These colouring books work brilliantly” said Simona Baciu, Founder and Director of Transylvanian College in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. “We have 400 teenage pupils, now joined by 80 refugee pupils in recent weeks. The colouring books are making a real difference. They were carefully designed for the purpose, and I’ve never seen anything quite like them before. The line-drawn patterns and mazes have coloured miniatures alongside, adding creative ideas in non-verbal ways.”
“Tapestry Foundation has a two-part approach to achieve this on an ambitious international scale,” explained Adrian Fisher MBE, maze builder and the book’s designer. “Every time we sell 10,000 copies in the West, we can distribute 20,000 free copies to child refugees. Not just refugees across Europe and beyond, but also within Ukraine.”
TIEF is appealing to major organisations to order thousands of copies, and sell them through their visitor attractions, sports clubs, churches, schools, universities, museums, art galleries and music festivals. “There is such tremendous goodwill to help refugees from Ukraine,” said Adrian Fisher, who with his wife Marie welcomed a Ukrainian family into their English home in April. “England’s National Trust are providing free admission to refugees this year. Supporters of football clubs are keen to help. We intend “Blue and Yellow – Hope for Ukraine” to become an increasingly visible expression of this support.”
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Please contact:
Adrian Fisher, Corporate Programme Co-ordinator,
Tapestry International Educational Foundation (TIEF),
The Maze House, Durweston, Dorset, DT11 OQA, England
Email: adrian@adrianfisherdesign.com
Phone: +44 7712 172 577
AFW2299000, TIEF, Blue and Yellow, Press Release A, 29 Apr 2022
