On Thursday 9 November, the legendary fabric nightclub in London hosted the charity event Rave for Ukraine organised by the Estonian embassy, raising money for children in Ukraine.
Estonia was represented by Minister of Culture Heidy Purga on the decks, and the main room featured world famous DJs, such as Felix Buxton of Basement Jaxx, Chris Liebing from Germany, Ida Engberg from Sweden and the Earl of Shaftesbury aka Nick ac. Pavel Plastikk from Ukraine had the closing set in the main room illuminated in the colours of Ukraine.
“Every opportunity to contribute to Ukraine’s victory and reconstruction is very important,” Purga said. “With this charity event, we supported those children in Ukraine who have suffered due to the horrors of war, lost their parents, spent days or even months in bomb shelters and seen their homes destroyed. I cannot even begin to imagine what they have been through. These experiences are sure to have a devastating impact on their mental health. We are doing our utmost to make sure the war ends in Ukraine’s victory and this beautiful country gets a chance to keep thriving.”
In his speech at the rave, Estonian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Viljar Lubi noted that things have gone from bad to worse globally. “There seems to be no immediate end to the illegal war of the aggressor Russia in Ukraine, and this way, Russia has legitimised the use of violence and brute force on peaceful countries and people in other parts of the world,” he said. “Many undemocratic forces across the globe are following these developments closely and drawing their conclusions.”
“The goal of the aggressor has not changed,” Lubi emphasised. “It still wants to break our unity and cause division in our societies, and undermine our will to help those in need and innocent victims by expanding suffering to other parts of the world. This is why our support for Ukraine must remain solid and visible, and this cannot change. And it will not!”
Lubi called on the guests to make a greater effort. “We cannot simply focus on our daily lives and forget the crimes against humanity that are being committed in the world,” he said. “It must end! In free societies, there are many channels we can use to show our solidarity with Ukraine and offer support. Let us use them all, even by having a rave.”
More than 550 tickets were booked for the invites-only rave and tickets and bar revenue raised more than €32 000 in total. The money will go to the charity organisation Gen.Ukrainian, which organises camps for improving the mental health of children who have suffered in the war. Donations can be made here for another week, until 19 November: https://fienta.com/rave-for-ukraine
Supporters who helped to make the charity rave for Ukraine happen included Invest Estonia, Bolt, Plural, Nortal, LHV, Fienta, Junimperium and Põhjala.
Photos of the event are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/estonian-foreign-ministry/albums/72177720312602233