Sæby Badminton Club
april 12, 2022 15:54
Badminton Denmark has received this touching story from Sæby Badminton Club, which has activated the club’s volunteering to help Ukrainian refugees. Get inspired by head coach Klaus Blunck’s report on the club’s event this Sunday. Maybe your club can also help people in need?
Badminton is a sport everyone can gather around. When people with different backgrounds get a racket and a shuttlecock in their hand, everyone speaks the same language.
They proved this in Sæby Badminton Hall on Skovalleen in Sæby, which a large group of Ukrainian refugees had been driven to on Sunday 10 April. Here badminton was played and drunk, eaten and enjoyed in the cafeteria.
– It was like meeting a family you did not know you had. One wonders who the hell can send bombs and missiles after these children and families. Peaceful people who just want to live a good life. The loving, trusting and grateful Ukrainians were a huge experience to make friends and new acquaintances with. So sweet children and adults, writes Klaus Blunck.
Read also: Badminton Denmark and DGI Badminton are in close dialogue with the Ukrainian Badminton Federation for help
There was also time for a lot of talk over coffee among the Ukrainians, as the families with different housing locations in Frederikshavn Municipality do not necessarily know each other. So, of course, they got to share some news from their home country. The internal contact between Ukrainians is also a very important part of the event, writes Klaus Blunck.
Some of the club’s young people, as well as other locals, had also donated used sportswear and warm jackets that guests could get if the clothes fit, and SuperBrugsen in Sæby is a partner in the Ukraine project, which meant that there was no shortage of food, drink and delicacies.
Read also: Danish European Championship players in quarantine can come home faster from Ukraine – Axelsen is already in Denmark
The hall and cafeteria bubbled with cosiness and fun, and it was a great relief for everyone in the organizing group that it all went so easily and smoothly on the day itself, after there had been some challenges with the transport logistics in the preparation phase.
Sæby Badminton Club had sent several cars round trip to Frederikshavn to pick up the families, but as the connection to the event was great, logistics became a problem.
There was a problem obtaining the required number of car seats and seat cushions at such short notice. So the club unfortunately had to say no to some, and according to Klaus Blunck it was very annoying.
In two weeks, the next event will take place with Ukrainians in Sæby Badminton Club, and by that time they hope that someone will make a bus with a driver available, as the need is great and only gets bigger.
The badminton club in Sæby now also has contact with a Ukrainian helper who speaks English, and a resident Armenian-born helper who understands Ukrainian and speaks fluent Danish. So linguistically, the club is now really good at both writing and speaking, and it will be used going forward.
According to Klaus Blunck, all of Sunday’s guests would like to return on April 24, and the club hopes by that time to get logistical help with transportation.
– Another is for sure. Those who support and help with the project make a huge difference for some hard-hit fellow human beings. Everyone in and around the badminton club works 100 percent voluntarily with the task, and the Ukrainians are very grateful, Klaus Blunck concludes in his email to Badminton Denmark.
Tags: Klaus Blunck, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sæby Badminton Club
Category: Home, Inspiration, Inspiration1, Club News, News
