Dnipro Kids: 'Invaluable' mini bus used to transport Ukranian orphans to Edinburgh stolen

Dnipro Kids said that the vehicle was stolen at some point over the weekend. The vehicle had been parked outside a garage by mechanics following an MOT. It was discovered that the van was gone when the charity went to collect it on Monday.

The van had been parked in the Joppa area of the city. The 17-seater Transit van is marked in distinctive yellow and blue stripes, with the charity’s logo. Dnipro Kids took to social media to appeal for more information.

The charity posted on Facebook: “The registration in BL15FUH and if anyone has seen it, or can remember seeing it elsewhere over the past week, please get in touch.”

The loss of the vehicle has been described as “invaluable” by Steven Carr, co-founder of the charity.

Steven said: “The van has been an excellent servant to us. It's been invaluable. When the children first came over, it was used for school runs and to take the children to hospital appointments, dental appointments.

“It's been used on the weekends to help with shopping and excursions. And there's also other Ukrainian support organizations in Edinburgh that have utilised the mini bus as well.

“So it's been really helpful over the past three years, that we've had it.”

The announcement of the theft saw an outpouring of support from the online community, with Steven calling the support “phenomenal”.

He said: “The online response after, after we put it up on Facebook and Twitter has been phenomenal. It's getting shared far and wide, you just need to go onto the Facebook page and see all the comments of support and the disgust that the minibus has been taken.”

The mini bus prominently displays the charity's branding. | Dnipro Kids

The charity hopes that their appeals will see the mini bus returned. With Steven pressing home the joy that the mini bus has brought to children brought to Edinburgh.

Steven said: “Whoever's taken it, please, please return the mini bus. It's a charity for children. And the excursions and the joy that we can bring to these children by taking them somewhere.

“For us as a charity, to be able to have been a part of that and see the joy and happiness on children when we're taking them on excursions, maybe not on the school runs, but certainly on the excursions, it's been fantastic, and the other organizations have found it very helpful as well in the support of Ukrainians within the city.

“So, just please have a think about that and return it. Or I don't expect them to return it, but if it's parked up somewhere, just leave it and let somebody alert the police to it, and just let us take it back.”

The charity was founded 20 years ago by Hibernian supporters. Fans of the club had spent time in Dnipro when the Edinburgh club played in Ukraine. It began supporting orphanages in the country following the visit.

The charity was instrumental in bringing children from the region to Edinburgh following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Children brought to the city were welcomed to Easter Road in May 2022, with many children playing on the park.

Anyone with information can contact Police Scotland quoting CR/0412932/25. If you want to support Dnipro Kids, you can visit their website.