Pentlands Ukrainian Support Group

WORKING WITH THE PENTLANDS UKRAINIAN SUPPORT GROUP

In 2022, our then President Percy Farren contacted the Edinburgh Ukrainian Club so that we could make a donation to support those fleeing the war in Ukraine. Local people supporting Ukrainians who had arrived in our community asked for help to deal with their finances, having proved to be very effective in fund raising but without any experience in accounting and accountability. Percy offered Currie Balerno’s help and we continue to support them to this day.

The Pentlands Ukrainian Support Group (PUSG) was established and it was agreed that all funds raised should be held in a discrete and ring-fenced section of the Currie Balerno Rotary Charity Account, with all disbursement controlled by the committee of PUSG. This provided secure and transparent management of the funds. Percy was elected to be a member of the PUSG Committee, together with Rotary Treasurer Doug Marr.

This was the start of an important partnership.

Rotary was able to provide financial help towards bus passes to enable the Ukrainians to get to job interviews to meet with other Ukrainians and to get to know Edinburgh. In association with the Turing Trust we were also able to supply several laptop computers to help local Ukrainians with study, work skills and job searches. Rotary member Andrew Clark offered some laptop training and subsequently help in setting up instant translation between the Ukrainian and English languages.

There has continued to be co-operation between Rotary and PUSG. Rotary has been active in supporting fund raising for the Ukrainians but they have helped us, too. Notably the Ukrainians made a major contribution to the preparations for Rotary’s 2022 Oktoberfest. The event raised funds for Rotary but proceeds from the raffle went to the Ukrainians. The Oktoberfest proved to be a highly successful collaborative event.