John Beaton-Hawryluk

I joined EVOC as the Ukraine Crisis Response Programme Coordinator to support the city's Voluntary Sector to engage with the wider Ukraine programme. In addition, my role was to advocate alongside colleagues at a local and national level for additional resource and to recognise the key role the Third Sector plays in supporting Ukrainians who have been recently displaced by Russia’s full-scale invasion.

My personal ties with Ukraine extend far beyond this role. My grandfather was Ukrainian, from Зубрець West Ukraine, and he came to the UK in 1947 following displacement at the end of World War 2. As a family, we have been involved with the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (Edinburgh Branch) for the last 10 years and at the start of the current crisis I supported the organisation to create and develop partnerships with the city's agencies. This recognised that the Ukrainian Community should be at the heart of the Ukraine Response programme and the established Ukrainian Community here in Edinburgh should be at the heart of supporting the response.

I have worked in various roles across the Public and Voluntary Sector for the last ten years. I started my career with City of Edinburgh Council as a Modern Apprentice within the employability and skills team specialising in European Funding compliance in the latter stages. Prior to joining EVOC, I worked with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) as a School Coordinator where I collaborated with Education colleagues and industry partners to look at ways of engaging students to consider their progression route from school.