Let us be reminded that the idea behind the project was to create an extended and modernized version of the 1943 tablecloth gifted to the women of Stalingrad by the women of Coventry. At that time, the cloth was embroidered with the names of all those who helped raise money for the restoration of Stalingrad, and bore along its edges several longer messages, including the catching phrase "Better a small help than a lot of pity."

The modern version of the Tablecloth is covered with drawings by Volgograd and Coventry artists, as well as by QR codes leading to the pages of the project's website with photos of both cities' famous places and the information about the project participants.

"What you see on the Tablecloth is actually just the works by the competitions winners, whereas in fact there are many more of them," says Marina Voronova, the project's methodologist. "The project brought together 377 participants from Volgograd and 265 from Coventry, plus 410 representatives of the international community from outside our cities at all."

Their work was coordinated by two teams. In Volgograd, it was the "Leaders of Change" autonomous non-profit organization, and in our English sister-city of Coventry – by the "Twin Studio Project" art association with the support of the Friendship Committees "Coventry - Volgograd".

"At the end of February, our compatriots in Coventry and British colleagues from public associations had to "step into the shadows" due to the fact that the project was carried out with the financial support of the Presidential Grants Fund of the Russian Federation," explains Olga Lawson, Chair of the Coventry-Volgograd Friendship Committee in Coventry, member of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in Great Britain. "However, this is not to say that they intend to remain in these shadows for too long."

The Russian organizers managed to complete the project on their own. In 2022, the tablecloth has already been presented in Volgograd twice. On March 31, it was showcased in the "Stalingrad Battle" panorama museum (just in time for the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the original Coventry tablecloth to Stalingrad), and on May 9 it was unfolded at the top of Mamaev Kurgan.

On May 30, at the end of the event, the Digital Tablecloth was solemnly handed over to Irina Bud, Deputy Head of the Special Projects Department of the "Stalingrad Battle" panorama museum.

"Thanks to our authorities and international experts," says Natalya Oreshkina, head of the "Leaders of Change" autonomous non-profit organization, moderator of the round table. "With their support, they let us know that we are doing the right thing and that it must be completed. Moreover, while we are summing up the results of this project, our diplomats, headed by Natalya Alshuk, Vice-Rector of Volgograd State Medical University for international relations and work with foreign students, Chair of the "Coventry – Volgograd" Friendship Committee in Volgograd, are already negotiating new cooperation projects. After all, it's today that you need to think about what can happen tomorrow.