News

By Press Office

A student who put his career and studies on hold to help children and adults in Ukraine has finally graduated with a Master’s degree in Play Therapy from London City Business School

Within the first few weeks of the Russian invasion, 38-year-old Gavin Menzies from Carrick Knowe, Edinburgh, had travelled to Kyiv to help support children who had lost their families and to administer vital end of life care to the elderly.

Despite the risks, Gavin was determined to be a force for good, providing supplies, helping refugees flee the country and providing hundreds of orphaned children with Christmas presents. He didn’t hesitate to put his work and education in Bristol on pause to do what he could to alleviate the suffering of people caught up in the ongoing conflict.

Before travelling to Ukraine, Gavin had dedicated his adult life to running his own support businesses for children in Edinburgh. However, after lockdown he quickly realised that many of the children that he was working with were dealing with complex challenges. Having hit a challenging point in his career following the pandemic, he started to look at ways that he could better support the development of young people in his clubs and academy, which led him to study the MSc Play Therapy at Queen Margaret University - a course run in collaboration with the specialist play therapy organisation.