A UKRAINIAN Fayre is set to go ahead in the Wee County next month as refugees who fled the war celebrate National Cossack Day.

Play Alloa, a charity which has been hosting a Ukrainian Club each Sunday, will serve as the host venue for the event set to take place on Saturday, October 15, at the Broad Street Centre.

Everyone is invited to attend and understand more about Ukrainian culture, taste the food and purchase form a selection of folk painting, candles, jewellery, traditional Motanka dolls and other Ukrainian crafts.

Percentage of the proceeds will be sent to Ukraine to support the people there, who have been enduring the horrendous conflict since Russia invaded in February.

Maria Malcolm, Play Alloa’s senior project manager, said: “We are delighted to host this event in Clackmannanshire as a way of thanking our local community which has been so welcoming in showing support and refuge to these Ukrainian families.

“I really hope people come along.”

Maria featured in the Advertiser earlier this year as she took on the mammoth task of co-ordinating volunteers and managing donations which came in from across communities in the Wee County in the wake of the invasion.

She also opened up on her proud Ukrainian roots, explaining how her father arrived to the UK after being displaced during WWII.

Play Alloa has been hosting the Ukrainian Club since May this year, giving refugee families the opportunity to meet other Ukrainian people who arrived to the Wee County in similar situations.

In Ukraine, Cossacks Day is celebrated annually on, or around, October 14.

It was established in 1999 to recognize the important role that the Ukrainian Cossacks and the Zaporozhian Sich played in the history of Ukraine.

The term refers to members of self-governing military and later also territorial communities consisting of the peoples who originated in the steppes of eastern Europe.

Although the Cossacks were under formal suzerainty of various states, such as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire, they enjoyed a great deal of autonomy.

The Zaporozhian Cossacks, also simply known as Zaporozhians, were Cossacks living downstream from the Dnipro Rapids in what is now central and eastern Ukraine.

There are mentions of Cossacks living in the region as early as the 12th century, but it wasn’t until the 16th century that different groups of Cossacks formed a strong military organization that quickly became a force to be reckoned with.

The Ukrainian Fayre at Play Alloa will start at 12noon on the day, entry is free.