Response to humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is inspiring

The response to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal has been inspiring. In just 10 days [as of March 14], more than £16 million was raised here in Scotland, with the UK total now past £170m.

Given the horrendous eyewitness accounts we are seeing on our TV screens and hearing on our radios, perhaps we shouldn’t be that surprised: we all want to do whatever we can.

This uplifting demonstration of global citizenship is hugely appreciated, particularly amid rising living costs here. So, most of all, we’d simply like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ for your support.

We are also heartened that so many have heeded our messages, shared by the Ukrainian associations here in Scotland and across the UK, that financial support for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal is the most effective way of getting the right support to the right people at the right time.

As well as the thousands of cash donations, big and small from the readers of this newspaper and others, along with those from businesses and local government, we must also thank Scotland’s political leaders for standing together to back this vital appeal.

Thanks, too, to the Scottish Government for their donations and to the UK Government for doubling the first £25m we received from the public.

Thirteen of the DEC’s 15 members, on or near the frontlines in Ukraine or at its borders, are now delivering food, water, shelter, healthcare and counselling to people whose lives have been torn apart. Those fleeing this conflict face a deeply uncertain future.

We pledge to spend this money responsibly with a firm focus on the most urgent needs of all those affected in the months and years to come. Thank you for placing your trust in us, and our work, just as you have been for our ongoing efforts to support those so badly affected by the recent conflict in Afghanistan.

For nearly 60 years, in times of crisis, the DEC has brought the UK’s leading humanitarian charities together to help people in life-anddeath situations.

With your continued support, we have no intention of stopping now.

▎ Across the UK, the DEC has 15 charity members, six of its members work collaboratively here during appeals.

Marie Hayes, British Red Cross in Scotland; Claire Telfer, Save the Children Scotland; Jamie Livingstone, Oxfam Scotland; Sally Foster Fulton, Christian Aid Scotland; Graeme McMeekin, Tearfund Scotland; Nadeem Baqir, Islamic Relief Scotland.