Charity in Tayside appeals for urgent donations to support Ukraine

More than two years on since the war in Ukraine began, a charity in Tayside is appealing for urgent donations to support families in the country.

Tayside and Strathearn Help for Ukraine have sent more than 70 lorry loads of aid, but say donations have dropped.

Volunteers are delivering “life boxes” with basic essentials families need to survive.

Andrew Cassidy has just returned from delivering the 75th arctic lorry load of aid to Ukraine.

He told STV News: “When we took the boxes in, the children were grabbing at the food, they were that desperate.”

Working alongside partner charities in Poland, they have been bringing life-saving aid to rural communities across the country.

Andrew said: “This family in particular that we visited are living in a derelict house, one room of a derelict house, with no running water so no toilet facilities. It’s a mother and four children between the ages of two and eight.

“She also looks after her own father who is disabled. When we arrived at that house, they had nothing, nothing in their cupboards.”

It costs around £2,500 per lorry, with all volunteers paying their own way to reach the border. They hope to send at least 40 more this year but need to raise £100,000 to do that.

But, as the war continues, the charity say it is now more important than ever to donate.

He said: “The situation is worse now than it was two years ago, they’ve been going through this war for the past two years.

“Certainly when I was out in December the foundation were making up life boxes and they were delivering 100 life boxes every week, this visit, I didn’t see any life boxes being made up because there’s just no food. and we have seen the same situation here, donations have almost dried up.”