L’The year 2025 confirmed what we have known for a long time: in Ukraine, needs are changing rapidly, balances are fragile, and humanitarian action cannot be theoretical or distant. For The Small Projects Team, This year has been marked by a continuous presence in the field and a constant desire to respond to concrete needs expressed locally, without ever losing sight of the complexity of the context.

Over the months, our actions have covered very different realities. Childhood, first and foremost, has remained at the heart of many projects. In Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kramatorsk, Poltava, Konotop and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, we have supported educational and recreational spaces for children, through books, games, cultural and musical activities. In a country at war, preserving moments of childhood is a simple but essential act.

In the midst of a seemingly endless war, the situation of elderly and isolated people remains a cause for concern. This is particularly true in Kherson, where the city is targeted daily in utterly despicable human safaris, where infrastructure is fragile, and where the population lives under constant pressure. Kherson has become one of our main areas of intervention. We carry out regular actions there with community centres, local organisations and vulnerable populations, notably through the delivery of powerbank kits, small solar panels and LED lamps, and humanitarian aid boxes for the most disadvantaged, containing basic necessities (food and hygiene products). 

This reality has strengthened our commitment to education, digital technology and access to knowledge. In Kherson, as well as in other cities such as Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, we have supported schools and community centres to maintain a minimum level of educational and administrative continuity. Access to computers, internet connections and digital tools has become a key factor in resilience, far beyond education alone.

At the same time, we continued our work on rehabilitation and social reconstruction, particularly through sport. In 2025, we supported five football clubs for amputees in Lutsk, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa and Zhytomyr. These clubs are not just sporting organisations. They are places of physical, psychological and collective reconstruction for veterans and civilians whose lives have been turned upside down by the war. We are particularly pleased to have supported the Lutsk team from the outset, which qualified for the European league after finishing second in the Ukrainian amputee football championship.

Still on the theme of football, the quality and professionalism of our actions have been recognised by the City of Paris, which has chosen us as its operational partner to provide emergency aid to the Lokomotyv football club in Kyiv, as part of the reconstruction of its stadium facilities, which were destroyed by a Russian missile. 

The year 2025 was also marked by the crucial issue of energy and heating, particularly as winter approached. Again in Kherson, where energy infrastructure is regularly targeted, we developed initiatives to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable populations, working closely with local partners capable of acting quickly. Our winter programme, Winter Hugs, focused this year on delivering sleeping bags to try to compensate for the lack of hot water (and therefore heating in residential buildings) caused by the destruction of gas facilities by the Russian army.

None of these actions would have been possible without strong, long-standing partnerships. In Ukraine, our work relies in particular on the Union of Help to Kherson (Kherson), Volunteering and Help Centre (Lviv), Adults for Children (Kharkiv) and many other local actors who know the terrain and the human realities behind each project. Internationally, numerous organisations and companies have helped to transform ideas into concrete actions.

As 2025 draws to a close, 2026 is already off to a strong start, with three major operations underway. The continuation and expansion of Operation Winter Hugs, made possible by a significant donation from the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, in collaboration with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. The delivery of 65 computers to Kherson, carried out with Action numérique solidaire and Élan de solidarité Cotentin Ukraine, to support community centres in a city that sorely needs them. And finally, the delivery of an ambulance to the 1st Separate Medical Battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, purchased by us and loaded with medical equipment, to strengthen evacuation and field care capabilities.

We would like to thank all of our donors and partners who make these actions possible: Action numérique solidaire, UHK, Volunteering and Help Centre, AEPU, Adults for Children, Élan de solidarité Cotentin Ukraine, the City of Paris, Just Answer, Jax Fund, Nexal, Eiffage, the clown Jijou, Valentin Dulignée, the Ouest-France Foundation, Hope for Ukraine, Notre espoir l’Ukraine, Action Santé Femmes, Le Barlone, and so many individuals who support our projects with consistency and confidence.

In 2026, we will simply continue to be there where we are needed.