Rhubarb October 2022

ST EDWARD’S

1993 they took their first (and only!) holiday in Portugal.They liked it so much they decided to buy a house there, and found a ruin with a wonderful view. It was love at first sight as well, so the ruin was bought. At the time they were both working full time in Munich, Chris as a sound engineer and product designer in his company Ambient Recording www.ambient.de and Helga as sound editor on features and TV films. The house took 10 years to finish but by 2005 it was ready. In 2008 Chris sold his part of Ambient and they started life together in Cortém working 12-hour days and running a small (4.5 hectares) successful organic winery,Vinhos Cortem. More recently, in 2019 they sold most of the winery and set up a website calledWineeccentrics specialising in wines with a difference.Visit www.wineeccentrics.com for details. If any Teddies people, young or old, are in Portugal, near to Cortém, they are invited to drop in for a wine tasting and talk about wine in the region, and about Teddies and life in general! (Please call first). If pupils or OSE have questions about sound for film/broadcast, please do get in touch with Chris and Helga a: c.price @ gmx.de.

Another team from Germany were leaving in their empty trucks as we arrived – an exhausted Lukas explained that later that day they were still expecting teams from Portugal, Spain and Romania to deliver yet more (it was 3pm!). As soon as we unloaded, the items were packed up into trucks for Ukraine or delivered directly to recently arrived refugees.The team (mostly local volunteers) worked tirelessly. Knowing that the situation is only worsening, they are motivated by their desire to help and their anger at the senselessness of this war. After leaving Przwork, we drove west to the village of Loniowa where we met the incredible Kate and her team of volunteers. Kate, a multilingual Polish national, was a natural-born leader and an inspiration to all who met her. Every three days she leads another team across the border into Ukraine carrying vital supplies, donated by the people in the surrounding villages and towns.This is despite losing her first car in an explosion on a previous mission. The people of the town of Loniowa are incredible; every family in the village has taken in a Ukrainian family and everyone is pitching in with this ongoing effort. From the grandparents and children helping to sort and pack items, to the incredibly brave men and women who regularly drive into the war zone, these people are true heroes. We spent an evening with Kate going to multiple pharmacies, where Kate had arranged volunteer armies of local people to obtain prescriptions for antibiotics and other vital medical supplies. I’m happy to say that we were able to fill an entire van with this vital aid.We delivered this to the local fire station where it was quickly packed into trucks bound for Ukraine the following day.

All of us left Kate and her team of volunteers with an overwhelming sense of admiration but no small amount of concern. I’m relieved to say that they have all returned safely from their latest foray into the war zone – long may their bravery be rewarded with safe passage back home! We were overwhelmed by the efforts and generosity of all the Polish people we met.We were told that these efforts were being repeated by multiple local groups up and down the Polish border. Any help that we in the UK can provide goes a long way to ensure that these efforts can continue. I’d also like to mention that kind donations were able to help to provide a generator and water pump directly to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, which is currently under siege and struggling for power and water. passed multiple Ukrainian families (no men as all men 16 – 60 are required to join the war effort) in cars packed with their worldly possessions.We have all agreed that we’d like to do more. For a start, we are all available to discuss our experience and share the contacts that we made.We would love to provide help to inspire a similar journey. As we drove backWest to our comfortable lives in the UK, we

OSE NEWS

Thank you all, Gareth,Will, Mark and Graz.

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BEN RIDGWAY (Tilly’s, 2000-2005)

If you would like to get in contact withWill about supporting Ukrainian refugees, you can reach him at drivetoukraine @ gmail.com.

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CHRIS PRICE (Sing’s, 1955-1960) When Chris and his wife Helga met in

L-R: Nick Gleave (Tilly’s), James Wang (Cowell’s), Mark Perry (Kendall), Adz Reeve (Field House), Georges Haines (Tilly’s) and Ben Ridgway (Tilly’s).

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