A MONKTON Heathfield resident is asking churches in and around Taunton to ring their bells to mark Ukraine Unity Day.

Stuart Pullen, 71, is encouraging churches in the area to mark the Ukrainian holiday and show solidarity with the country.

The holiday falls on Sunday, January 22 this year but Mr Pullen did not want the sound of the bells to “get mixed up with the regular bells” so he is asking for the initiative to take place the day before, at 11am.

So far, Mr Pullen managed to get the following churches involved: West Monkton, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Kingston St Mary, Broomfield, Taunton Minster, and East Lyng.

He said: “Basically, I was listening to the news one morning and it was about the Ukrainian power station being damaged and 10 million people would have been left without heat or light.

“These people are suffering so I thought, ‘what can we do to show support for these people?’ and for some reason, I thought about bells ringing to create the sound of support.

“I looked at the Ukrainian calendar and I noticed that the Ukrainian Unity Day is on January 22, which this year is a Sunday. I didn’t want the sound to get mixed up with the regular bells, so I thought about Saturday, January 21 at 11am.

“I got in touch with various churches. Taunton Minster has been very active as well as the West Monkton church and bell ringers will give up their time on a Saturday morning.

“It is about human compassion; I pray for Ukraine at least twice a day. Receiving all this support was overwhelming.”

Tobi Osmond, Rev Vicar at Taunton Minster, said: "We are really looking forward to it. It's so great a small county town in the middle of Somerset is trying to support the Ukrainian refugees completely. 

"If we can do it the day before Unity Day would be great, it will be very powerful for them.
"The Minster was very keen to support Stuart's initiative and spread the news."

The Somerset Aid for Ukraine charity is planning to send a lorry full of donations to Ukraine on Saturday, January 21, and Mr Pullen said: “It is a brave mission, and the sound of the bells will be with them”.