Ukraine: Rotarians in Fife rally support for local appeals to help people fleeing war-torn country

The club, which meets in the Gilvenbank Hotel, has banded together and enlisted the help of multiple organisations in Glenrothes to collect essential aid for families trying to escape the war torn country.

More than two million people have now fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations, with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees calling the exodus ‘the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two’.

Refugees are crossing to neighbouring countries to the west, such as Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova, with Poland taking in the majority, numbering 1,204,000 refugees.

Iain Oates, the club’s junior vice president, said: “We all saw the news when the Russian invasion began, and after some discussion we decided that we had to act immediately to help these poor people.

“We held an emergency council meeting and reached out to organisations across Fife, such as the Linton Lane Centre in Kirkcaldy, to coordinate our efforts.

"We started by filling our members’ garages with aid and with a Luton van that was very kindly given to us free of charge from A2B Van Hire in Glenrothes.

"We managed to fill the whole van as well as multiple cars to be taken to Linton Lane before being moved on to the main staging points.”

Iain said that the club has now organised extra storage for aid as donations continue to pour in.

"We now have a couple of storage containers as well as space in the Gilvenbank Sports Hub,” he said. “The aid just keeps coming.

“Ater delivering a van load to Linton Lane last Thursday, I had to phone again on Friday to tell them that we had even more!

“The generosity from people has been overwhelming - I’m amazed by the amount that has been donated.”

Iain added: “We have stopped taking donations of clothes. If people want to donate we’re asking that they give baby supplies, medical supplies, toiletries, and sleeping bags.”

If you would like to donate to the Glenrothes Rotary Club Ukrainian Aid Appeal, please email: [email protected], or visit: https://www.facebook.com/glenrothesrotar.

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