BBC Studios has teamed up with Mother London and Animagrad to introduce Ukrainian animation characters Mavka and Swampy for Mavka. The Forest Song to Duggee, the Squirrels and Hummingbirds for a Hey Duggee special called The Welcome Badge.
The special episode premiered on CBeebies this morning and is also available to watch on BBC iPlayer, as well as all of the Hey Duggee social channels.
In the episode, Duggee, the Squirrels and the Hummingbirds help make their new Ukrainian friends feel a welcome in the UK by bursting into song. The Welcome Song includes translations of Ukrainian phrases to help the new arrivals feel at home (and to give children here some phrases to use for a nice big welcome).
BBC news programmes including BBC Breakfast covered the story earlier this morning.
Hey Duggee narrator Alexander Armstrong voices the story and he is joined by children from the UK and recently arrived from Ukraine – who all sing the words of the song in their native language.
“We are delighted to team up with Mother and Animigrad, and feel very proud that Hey Duggee is playing its part to help children coming to the UK from Ukraine feel welcome in such a charming and educational way,” commented Harriet Newby-Hill, vp marketing kids and family at BBC Studios.
Mavka and Hey Duggee were introduced by Mother, as part of its Friendly Faces project. Felix Richter, a partner at Mother London, added: “Collaborating together on this project to help thousands of children see the value of friendship, across language barriers, has been an absolute privilege.”
