Gift a book to Ukrainian children affected by war

Help us build a library for Svitlo School students by donating or buying books in English

How to Donate

#GiftABookForSvitlo
#SvitloReads

Our students LOVE to read English books - can you help us build a library?

At Svitlo School, Ukrainian children are passionate about learning English and want to read English books. Unfortunately, English books are difficult for them to obtain. There are limited English books in the standard Ukrainian curriculum, and buying English books in Ukraine can be very expensive.

We want to create a Svitlo School Library, so that all our students from across Ukraine can access English books. Svitlo means ‘light’ and you can help bring this to Ukrainian children by donating a new or pre-loved book to our online library and help us supply school bomb shelters at Ukrainian schools with English books. You can send us pre-loved books from your own collection, purchase a book from our wish list or contribute to our postage fund to send books to Ukraine.

We know that childhood reading brings profound and varied benefits in cognitive development, language, educational attainment and wellbeing. But for Ukrainian children, the benefits are even greater:

  • Books can provide a meaningful distraction and escape from the everyday realities of war
  • Books can be enjoyed during power and connectivity blackouts, which our students regularly experience
  • 42% of children have limited or no access to classroom learning, so books can help combat learning loss

Help us create a library and fuel our students’ imagination, curiosity, knowledge and future success.

How can I donate to the Svitlo School Library?

DONATE TO HELP WITH RUNNING COSTS

You can also make a donation on our Just Giving page, which will help us cover the cost of deliveries and the running of the project

CHOOSE A BOOK FROM OUR WISH LIST

If you don’t have books but would like to help, you can purchase a new or used book from one of our wish lists

For SCHOOLS and PUBLISHING HOUSES

Contribute to our Svitlo Library collection or help us supply a bomb shelter in a Ukrainian school with your new or pre-loved books.

What books can I donate to the Svitlo School Library?

We have 2 cohorts of students - our Juniors are 10-13 years old and our Seniors are 14-18 years old.  

Across each cohort, students have varying degrees of English language proficiency. Some students will enjoy simpler books and others can take on more complex reads.

  • Children’s non-fiction books - any subject across science, history, technology, countries and cultures, art and design, maths, music, careers, business, politics, philosophy and economics, social and emotional learning, wellbeing
  • Children’s fiction books - novels in any genre or children’s graphic novels
  • Books about English as a Foreign Language - grammar, spelling, vocabulary and conversation from level A1 to level C1.

How did we come up with the Svitlo School Library, what we already do to promote love to reading?

The initiative to create the Svitlo School Library was inspired by our students. In spring 2024, through our partnership with Global Social Leaders (GSL), a group of Svitlo students participated in a global competition focused on developing projects that could positively impact their community. While enhancing their teamwork, problem-solving, and creative skills, they came up with an exciting idea for an online library.

Although they did not win the competition, you can see their entry here, their inspiring idea highlighted a gap in our resources. While we strive to provide a well-rounded education in English for our students, their access to English literature in Ukraine is limited, since books in English are relatively rare and expensive. Therefore, we decided to address this issue by creating our own Svitlo School Library.

Follow us on @svitloreads to learn more and support out initative

In addition to the new idea of providing access to physical books in English, we have also partnered with Giglets, an online literacy resource. We are training our older students to facilitate guided reading sessions and reading clubs using Giglets' online resources for the younger students. This initiative not only improves the English literacy of our younger students but also provides our older students with teaching skills while enhancing their own English proficiency. 

Our further literacy-focused activities include:

About Svitlo School - illuminating the future for the children of Ukraine

Svitlo School is a registered charity in England and Wales with a very important mission - to empower the future political, social and business leaders of Ukraine to become global citizens. We provide a unique online educational sanctuary for Ukrainian children affected by war.

In 2022-2024 we have supported over 500 students by offering:

  • excellent language skills through high quality academic and social lessons in English
  • educational opportunities like scholarships and free summer school placements in the UK and USA
  • a safe, stable community where they can enjoy new friendships and experience a sense of belonging
Svitlo students learn from an international community of 65+ volunteers, supported by a dedicated team of educators and Ukrainian refugees in the UK. It’s a place where curiosity, creativity and friendships flourish and children become knowledgeable, confident global citizens with hope for the future.

9,474

hours taught

540

students supported

63

classes per week

data Sep 2023 to Jul 2024