In Kyiv, on the basis of the Kyiv City Family Center "Family House", the first PlayHub in Ukraine was opened, which uses the international model of working with children and their families "TOY for inclusive education", which already exists in 10 countries of the European Union. The Ukrainian PlayHub is open at the address: 26 Novodarnytska Street, Kyiv.

"This is the first gaming center we are opening in Ukraine for children 0-10 years old and their parents affected by the war. — says Ilona Yeleneva, director of the NGO Labour and Health Social Initiatives (LHSI). — This play center is unique in that it brings families with young children together in a safe and inclusive atmosphere and provides them with the opportunity to learn in a playful way. At the same time, parents can learn in this PlayHub how best to develop their children through play, make your leisure time with children interesting and rich. Many families were forced to leave their homes due to the war and cannot afford to buy a lot of toys, in the center you can not only have fun together, but also learn how to play and develop your child through play, and our educators will help parents acquire the necessary competencies. Such PlayHubs have been successfully operating in Europe for several years, since 2022 many Ukrainian families have received services in them. Now such leisure is available in Kiev. We are proud that we were able to unite partners from abroad and the local community of Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts of Kyiv to give our children the opportunity to develop."

The opening of the PlayHub in Kyiv was carried out within the framework of the project "PlayHub in Ukraine", which is implemented by the International NGO Labour and Health Social Initiatives (LHSI) in cooperation with the Dutch organization International Child Development Initiatives with the financial support of the charitable organization Porticus (Portugal). Such hubs already exist and are developing in 10 countries of the European Union. Thus, after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, new Play Hubs were opened for Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and other countries.

"The opening of such a Play Hub on the basis of the Kyiv City Family Center "Family House" is an important step in supporting children who need special attention and support in our society. — said the head of the National Social Service of Ukraine Vasyl Lutsyk. — Providing access to informal education and interactive games for children and their parents with different needs, such centers will help them reveal their creative potential and develop personal abilities, because inclusive education and friendly approach to each child create favourable conditions for their physical, mental and social growth."

"Play centers are inclusive non-formal educational spaces for young children and families based on communities. — says Yulia Nikolaichuk, director of the Kyiv City Family Center "Family House", on the basis of which the first Play Hub in Ukraine was opened. — Such centers take special care to involve young children (0-10 years old) from vulnerable groups growing up in difficult life circumstances in informal learning and development. We have long thought about creating services for families with the youngest children, thanks to cooperation with the NGO Labour and Health Social Initiatives (LHSI), this became possible, our educators were trained according to the international model of working with children and their families "TOY for inclusive learning", adapted international approaches to the challenges facing us and families with children, who come to us, puts war. Now we will put it into practice. We invite parents with children to our center."

During the opening ceremony, after the speeches of Ilona Yeleneva, director of the NGO Labour and Health Social Initiatives (LHSI) and Yulia Nikolaichuk, director of the Kyiv City Family Center "Family House", who spoke about the international project Play Hub and the PlayHub in Ukraine, the guests discussed the need and expediency of such work; ways of project development in the future; the needs of today's customers; prospects of the Play Hub for the development of parental competencies, etc. After that, everyone became the first visitors of Play Hub with a demonstration of individual working methods and took part in the approbation of the "Quest room of parental competencies" methodology.

The honorary guests of the event were Head of the National Social Service of Ukraine Vasyl Lutsyk, Head of the Service for Children and Family of the Kyiv City State Administration Valerii Tantsiura and Director of the Kyiv City Center for Social Services Yaroslava Kolobova and representatives of district administrations of Dnipro and Darnytskyi districts. They solemnly congratulated the first little visitors with their parents and wished success to the team of educators.