A UKRAINIAN woman living near Whitchurch has thanked the town council after getting to see how it works.

Before the Russian invasion of her country, Olha Boichuk worked as a lawyer for the council in her home region of Buchach, and she wanted to find out how UK councils compared with their counterparts in her home country.

Olha thanked Whitchurch Town Council clerk Mike McDonald for showing her around on her visit.

She said: "I was very interested to see how the British town council works and see how it compares with a Ukrainian one.

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"It turned out, we have a lot in common in terms of structure, duties of employees, organisation of field work, community development and much more.

"A big special thanks to Mike for this."

Olha has been in the UK since October, last year and has been delighted with the warm welcome she has received in Whitchurch.

She added: "I really like Whitchurch, because it reminds me a lot of my town Buchach, where I was born and live.

"It is just as friendly and compact.

"You can walk around for everything."

Olha confirmed that her children attend school in Whitchurch and she praised her hosts for their support.

She said: "I have three daughters, my eldest, Sasha and twins Tonya and Sonia.

"They all attend school in Whitchurch.

"We live in Old Woodhouses.

"We have great hosts.

"They became our second family and help and support us in everything. 

"We love them very much."

Olha hopes to return to Ukraine soon and thanked people in the UK for their support.

She said: "We really hope for that.

"We have relatives and close people who we miss very much.

"Also, we would like to thank British people for their support of Ukrainian families.

"After the end of the war, we look forward to visiting our picturesque Ukraine."

Mr McDonald said the town council was delighted to show Olha around and he hopes for the situation in Ukraine to improve.

He added: "It was a huge pleasure to meet her and learn of her experiences too, especially seeing the number of similarities in local government.

"We hope and pray that the situation improves and that Olha, her family and fellow Ukrainians can return home soon."