I Don’t Want To Talk About It singer Rod Stewart has been renting a home to a family-of-seven Ukrainian refugees and is now sharing the wonderful story to the public.
Rod explained that he and his wife Penny were watching the heartbreaking news about war-torn Ukraine, when he felt compelled to do something to help those struggling.
When speaking to The Mirror, the 77-year-old revealed, “Words couldn’t describe what we were watching. The bombing of innocent children, the bombing of hospitals and playground”.
“Like everyone else, we were completely beside ourselves. I don’t wish that on anyone. This is evil, pure evil”.
After that moment, Sir Rod and his nephew Warren came up with a plan to get supplies over to Ukraine. “So we got three trucks and a team drove up all the way to Ukraine. It took them a weekend. They got all the way to the border and took 16 refugees back to Berlin for safety”.
Stewart still wanted to do more, so was put in contact with a family-of-seven who had already made it to the UK and needed help to rebuild their lives.
The family comprises of husband and wife, Rostyslav and Olena, and their children 17-year-old Taras, 16-year-old Kostya, 13-year-old Roman, 10-year-old Maiira and two-year-old Dymtro.
The rock and roll legend has provided the family with a three-storey red-brick townhouse in Berkshire. Their new abode is fully furnished and Rod has pledged to pay their rent and bills for at least a year.
As well as paying for this house, the Forever Young singer has provided jobs for two other refugees, one of them as a gardener on his Essex estate.
After meeting the family, Rod explained, “They are all very grateful, and it just makes me want to do more. I am thinking of getting another house now and getting a lot more people over”.
“They are such a lovely little family and so polite too. None of them speak English but they have such wonderful manners, especially the teenagers”.
“I think they had been briefed before they met me as to who I was- and they certainly know who I am now, since I left about 500 CD’s for them”, Stewart joked when talking about getting to know the family.
Rod then explained why he decided to tell the public about his work helping the Ukrainians. “I usually keep all my charitable efforts nice and quiet and just do it. But I thought, ‘I am a knight, I have been given this knighthood because of the things I’ve achieved in my life and the charity work I’ve done over the years’”.
“But that was the past. I want to be seen doing something now. I am a knight, I should be using my power to do something for people. I am sure that if there are people out there who see what I am doing, they will pick up some slack too”.
Rostyslav and Olena also made a statement about Rod’s kindness. “Many thanks to Sir Rod Stewart, Warren Cady, his parents and their family for their openness and genuine big hearts. Thanks to their sponsorship and Warren’s hard work, our children are now safe and able to learn normally in school”.
“We thank the British Government and residents of Bracknell, the teachers of our children and the entire British people for their tireless and invaluable assistance to Ukraine. We pray daily for God’s blessings on Sir Rod, Warren, their family and all the British people”.
