We are launching the Evening Standard Ukraine Appeal to raise money for the men, women and children who are fleeing the fighting in Ukraine.
The crisis has shocked our readers and the world and we have set up a fund to bring desperately-needed help to those who require it now.
Desperate refugees bring with them terrifying accounts of blaring sirens, nights spent hiding in basements and missiles whistling overhead.
As the number of people desperately fleeing Ukraine passes 1.5 million and the United Nations warning that “at this rate” we are facing “the biggest refugee crisis this century”, we have announced a major expansion in the charities that will benefit from our appeal.
All funds raised will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal, which is bringing together 13 leading UK aid charities, including the Red Cross and Save the Children, the two groups we supported in the first two days. The DEC was set-up to co-ordinate humanitarian aid for overseas disasters and will ensure that your money is quickly and efficiently disseminated to the DEC charities and their local partners to urgently help people displaced from their homes in Ukraine - or fleeing across the border into Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and Slovakia. The DEC’s 13â¯member charities who will receive our funds are: Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Oxfam, Save the Children UK, Plan International UK, and World Vision UK.â¯â¯
Journeys to the border are long and fraught with anxiety, with a normal two-hour train trip turned into an 18-hour ordeal.
Others are having to walk 50km to the border, carrying their children and what few possessions they can manage. Please give generously.
Mike Adamson, chief executive of the British Red Cross, said: “We are gravely concerned about the crisis in Ukraine. People are losing their homes and lives; families are being separated.
“Essential services, like water and healthcare, are under threat. Donations will help us reach displaced people in Ukraine and those fleeing to neighbouring countries with food, water... and medicine. Any donation makes a difference.”
To donate please go to: gofundme.com/eveningstandardukraineappeal
