Refugee finds comfort in returning to tennis hobby

A WOMAN who fled from Ukraine almost three years ago has found comfort by taking up an old hobby.

Anna Ovchynnikova, 36, left her home in Kyiv in March 2022 with her daughter Kseniia, eight, and mother Nataliia, 64, following the Russian invasion in February of that year.

They spent three months in Germany before they were invited to stay with a host family in Sonning Common through the national Homes for Ukraine scheme.

The trio stayed with Andrew and Kathleen Saoulis for two-and-a-half months, whom she had met previously through her work in IT.

Mrs Ovchynnikova had found little time for socialising until a chance encounter with a member of Peppard Tennis Club meant she could meet new people.

She said: “I used to play tennis in Ukraine but, when I first came here, I was very busy with different things that I just had no time to look into taking it up here.

“I had to work all the time and, when I am not working, I’m helping my daughter with her schoolwork because she didn’t speak English before we came here. I don’t have a lot of time anyway because I am on my own.”

But Mrs Ovchynnikova then met Anthony I’Anson, who is a member of the tennis club, after he was invited round the house by her hosts after he had advertised a bicycle for sale online.

Mrs Ovchynnikova said: “Anthony mentioned that he played tennis and I told him that I used to play as well and then he offered to take me.

“He picked me up and took me to the club and it provided me with everything I needed because I had nothing. They bought me shoes, clothes and racquets — I was very lucky.

“Being on my own, all of my socialising is related to the tennis world. I met new people and made friends with people who have shared interests.

“The camaraderie extends beyond the court with various tournaments and social events, such as open days and barbecues.”

Mrs Ovchynnikova, who started playing tennis aged seven, is pleased to have been able to continue playing as it brings her a sense of normality.

She said: “Time spent at the club is a few hours a week I can feel my life is back to normal — it’s a piece of my old life.

“I hadn’t played for a while, so it took some lessons before I could play back at my normal level and the club has been very patient and I now play in tournaments.

“In tennis there are no real limits. This is exactly the place where your efforts make a difference as it creates an inner feeling that you can do almost anything if you work hard.”

Mrs Ovchynnikova, who now lives in Caversham, has worked for Accton, an IT firm in Reading, since before the war and had visited the UK about 20 times before the invasion. Her daughter Kseniia attends Thameside Primary School. She said that Mr and Mrs Saoulis and the community in Sonning Common had helped her to relocate and supported them as they adjusted to their new home.

Mrs Ovchynnikova said: “They helped us a lot — the whole community has been very kind and supportive. It’s one thing to meet up for an hour in a pub but it’s another thing entirely to help the three of us move. They have all been so kind to us. Sadly, Kathleen passed away last year but we still see Andrew often.

“I sometimes wonder if I would be prepared to do the same if something happened in another country and I would say ‘yes’ now, of course. But it has been a big thing to take in families from Ukraine whom you have never met.”

She said that despite the challenges settling in when they arrived, she and her daughter are finally adjusting to their life in this country.

Mrs Ovchynnikova said: “Kseniia Didn’t talk for the first year at school – she didn’t go to the toilet either or speak to anyone. She didn’t even care when the rubbish truck comes in the morning to collect our rubbish, which is what she would keep an eye on at home.

“At one point I didn’t think she would be impacted very much by the move because she was five but, as soon as we left, I understood that it has been very difficult for her, particularly the first year. She was in a very bad situation.

“It’s better now as once we started to rent our own property and started doing some sports, such as swimming, we have all become more settled.”

Mrs Ovchynnikova’s mother returned to Ukraine in June to be a carer for her 93-year-old grandmother, so she had to find a babysitter before she could return to playing tennis.

She said: “I have a babysitter now who comes once a week when I am playing tennis and sometimes I take my daughter with me and she stays in the clubhouse when I am playing.”

Along with her mother, much of Mrs Ovchynnikova’s family remain in Ukraine, including her husband Oleksander, who is serving in the military. She has seen him twice since the family left and that her family are never far from her thoughts.

Mrs Ovchynnikova said: “You are checking every night and every day if your family has survived, sometimes I check my phone three times a night.

“It has been almost three years and my daughter has only seen her dad twice. I don’t want to take her there too often because it’s not safe so it’s always a compromise because we can’t control what happens.

“Kyiv is more protected compared with other cities. It’s not like some other areas where they are under attack every day. But the problem is that Russia is attacking every night and every day.

“You never know, every day hundreds of people are dying and every night they are having these air raid alarms, so people have not had a good night’s sleep for years. They can never relax. Everyone has lost friends or relatives and people are being forced into the army.”

Mrs Ovchynnikova made the decision to leave her homeland when bridges near their homes were destroyed to hold up advancing Russian troops.

She added: “If I would take the decision again I would have left earlier as I don’t believe children deserve to be exposed like this, with constant air alarms, people seeking blast shelters and power cuts.”