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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Sarah Ward & Fionnuala Boyle

Ukrainian orphans rescued by Hibs charity hope to arrive in Scotland in coming days

A group of 50 orphaned Ukrainian children are waiting for paperwork to be sorted so they can fly to safety in Scotland.

The children, accompanied by nine adults, are in Warsaw, Poland, where it had been hoped they would fly from yesterday.

A paperwork issue has stalled their journey, which was due to depart to Heathrow before going on to Scotland, which will be their home temporarily until it is possible to return to Dnipro in Ukraine, where they lived.

Not all the kids are 'orphans' in the conventional sense of being bereaved, but they were being cared for in orphanages.

Charity Dnipro Kids has been helping the children, who left Ukraine on March 8.

Founder Stevie Carr, a Hibs fan, also runs a security business and is hoping the situation will change in the coming days.

Stevie said: "The kids are now at a hotel in Warsaw, they are being looked after.

"The paperwork is the issue, the flights will be booked once that's resolved."

The kids remain 'happy and hopeful' (Dnipro Kids via Facebook)

The children will be kept together and are expected to spend a number of weeks in Callander, Perthshire, before moving to Edinburgh.

Since the request came in from Dnipro Kids, council staff have been working with NHS Forth Valley and Police Scotland, along with volunteers from local businesses, to ensure the facility in Callander is ready to welcome the children and that local support is in place.

Stirling Council Chief Executive Carol Beattie said: "Dnipro Kids approached us asking for support and our staff responded quickly to help make sure the children have what they need.

"The suffering faced by innocent families and communities is heartbreaking to witness and we are prepared to do whatever we can to help them.

"Stirling Council has a proud history of welcoming and assisting refugees.

"We have participated in the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Scheme since its launch in 2005 in response to the Syrian crisis and we are committed to supporting efforts to resettle Afghan nationals.

"Now we are stepping up to aid the innocent Ukrainian victims of the Russian military invasion.

"These children have shown enormous courage to flee the devastation and constant fear they were facing in their own homes to try to integrate somewhere new.

The orphans will hopefully arrive on UK soil (Dnipro Kids via Facebook)

"Our first priority will be checking on the health and wellbeing of the young people and making them feel welcome.

"After that, we have put in arrangements to ensure they are completely integrated into the community whether that's going to school or taking part in various activities.

"They will be warmly welcomed into Stirling's communities where they will find support to get used to their new environment, and help getting to know the country that has welcomed them.

"We stand ready to help in Stirling if there's more we can do for the children."

Stirling Council has stepped in to help get the kids to safety (Dnipro Kids via Facebook)

Dnipro Kids board member, Robert Brown, said: "Once I knew that the children would definitely be coming, I immediately contacted the Chief Executive of Stirling Council on Wednesday afternoon and by close of business on Friday, we put together a comprehensive support package.

"The council deserves a lot of credit for this.

"Both Dnipro Kids and Stirling Council are committed to giving the children a wonderful time so that they can escape the trauma of what they've been through, and we can turn their experience into an adventure they'll remember for the rest of their lives.

"I would urge everybody to keep on supporting Ukraine with donations of cash. Ukrainian men are in the front line of a fight to protect our democratic way of life.

"We must therefore do all we can to help their wives and children wherever they are.

"It is going to be a very long haul, so we need to donate and donate and donate."

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