A FUNDRAISER has been launched to raise as much money as possible to help a Ukrainian family who recently arrived in Clacks.

As reported in the Advertiser last week, Elizaveta Shyshorina and her three children Oleksandr, 15, Kyrylo, 13, and Polina, 8, left their hometown of Zaporizhzhia in the days following the Russian invasion.

They recently arrived in the Wee County to live with Elizaveta's mother-in-law Galyna and her husband Robert Lee.

Now, Clair Coutts, a family friend, has set up a fundraiser to raise money for the family.

Clair said: “Galyna’s good friends with my mum and she’s been talking to her and telling her what’s been happening.

“She’s been worried for a while, as we all have been, about the situation getting worse.

“Galyna told my mum about the chance meeting with Trevor, and I had friends who have children who were trying to pull together some clothes and other things for the kids.

"It grew from there and I realised they had such a long way to go to try and raise some money to help them start again.”

The fundraiser had a target of £500 and, at the time of writing, had more than £640. However, there are hopes that more money can be raised.

Clair continued: “It’s doing really well but it would be good if we could get a wee bit more because starting again will be so hard.

“Galyna and Robert, they’re all trying to make the best of it to make sure the family’s okay.

“We’re just trying to help in any way we can and people have been very generous so far in what is a very difficult time.”

The family were assisted from the Ukrainian border to Clackmannanshire by Trevor Garaghty, who took them across Europe after travelling to donate supplies.

The kind hearted stranger hasn’t stopped helping the family, as he recently made a £50 donation to the fundraiser.

Clair said: “I messaged him and said, ‘My goodness, you’ve done so much already’.

“That was incredibly kind. He’s a special man, he deserves a medal.”

Visit tinyurl.com/37fvekyt to donate to the fundraiser.