Ukraine crisis: How you can help charity appeals in Edinburgh and the Lothians

The response from people across Edinburgh and the Lothians in recent days has been described by many of those collecting for Ukraine as overwhelming.

From football fans to church congregations, Ukrainian expat organisations in the Capital to local businesses, several initiatives have sprung up to meet the enormous need of those fleeing the war or trying to survive within their home country.

The Edinburgh Ukrainian Club at 14 Royal Terrace is collecting donations and appealing in particular for “toiletries and ladies sanitary products, medicines, bandages, painkillers, as well as none perishable food such as instant coffee, tea, hot chocolate, chocolate bars, energy bars, pot noodles”. They are also accepting adults and children’s clothes and shoes, sleeping bags, camping mats.

People gather for the Standing In Solidarity With Ukraine vigil on The Mound, Edinburgh, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Picture date: Tuesday March 1, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS Ukraine. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

The community centre at 14 Royal Terrace will be open on Wednesdays between 6pm and 8pm, Friday afternoons between 2pm and 6pm and on Monday mornings between 10am and 1pm, for donations. Please try to bring donations in bags labelled with what they contatin in order to help organisers sort what comes in.

These times will continue for the foreseeable future.

The Dnipro Appeal Charity was set up in 2005 by Hibs supporters following a football trip to Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine. The charity provides help and support for orphaned children at the numerous orphanages and foster homes within the city.

Details of how to donate can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/dniproappeal

Refugees from Ukraine walk a road after crossing the Moldova-Ukrainian border's checkpoint near the town of Palanca on March 1, 2022. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP) (Photo by NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Fans who donate £10 to the charity’s JustGiving page are in with a chance of winning one of four prizes including a signed Sauzée Hibs shirt donated by The Hanlon Stevenson Foundation set up by Hibs stars Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson.