Plea to ‘join Harrogate march to support Ukraine refugees'

A good turnout is expected for a Harrogate march in support of Ukraine.
Helping refugees - A Red Cross medic in Poland helping a family newly arrived from Ukraine.Helping refugees - A Red Cross medic in Poland helping a family newly arrived from Ukraine.
Helping refugees - A Red Cross medic in Poland helping a family newly arrived from Ukraine.

The people of Harrogate are being urged to show their support for refugees in Ukraine at a fundraising march in the town centre on Saturday, March 5.

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As the flow of mainly women and children fleeing the war zone from Russian attack afer President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine a week ago rose past 700,000, sympathy in Britain towards Ukraine has grown by the day.

To show it’s a feeling shared in Harrogate, organisers plan to meet at the war memorial in the town centre at 2pm.

They’ll then be heading off for a march around Harrogate to raise money for charities supporting Ukrainian people.

One of the organisers, Diana Shypovych, who lives in Harrogate, said: “On the 24th of February Russian forces invaded my motherland. Putin wanted to ‘save’ Ukraine, but if killing children, bombing cities and terrorising people is ‘saving’, then the world has gone mad.

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Thousands of women and children were forced to leave their houses and seek the peaceful sky. Thousands stayed at their homes, in cellars or in metro stations.

“While Ukrainian volunteers are doing their best to provide food, clothes and shelter to them, there is a real threat of humanitarian crisis.”

In the days leading up to the Harrogate march, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK could be prepared to take in 200,000 or more Ukrainian refugees.

But march organiser Diana Shypovych is still appealing to the public in Harrogate to show their support.

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She said: “On Saturday at 2pm, we will be at the Cenotaph to fundraise for Ukrainian refugees. We ask you to support us. Show what a real ‘saving’ is.”

An Instagram account for the march has also been created (@supportukraine.hgt) with details of the charities.

As support for Ukraine keeps on growing across Britain, thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country will be given food, warm clothing and a place to stay, thanks to a £50,000 grant to the British Red Cross from the Freemasons.

The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF, the Freemasons’ Charity) and the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) have been monitoring the growing refugee crisis of over a million Ukrainian people who have been forced from their country and hundreds of thousands more who have been internally displaced from their homes.

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Red Cross teams in neighbouring countries including Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and Romania, have been providing urgent support to refugees.

The Freemasons have contributed to the Red Cross's work via a grant through the Masonic Charitable Foundation, which is funded by Freemasons, their families and friends, from across England and Wales.

Luke Tredget, Head of Emergencies, Surge and Technical Advisory from the Red Cross, said:“We’re very grateful to the Freemasons for this generous grant which makes a major contribution to the Red Cross relief effort for Ukrainian refugees.

“Most of those fleeing the fighting are women and children who have been queueing on the border in sub-zero temperatures for as long as 60 hours. They’re in urgent need of support and the Red Cross has teams on the ground doing everything possible to help.”

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Les Hutchinson, Chief Executive of the Masonic Charitable Foundation, said: “I’m very pleased we’ve been able to help the British Red Cross in their relief effort for the hundreds of thousands of refugees running from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"These poor people are cold, hungry and utterly exhausted and I’m proud that Freemasons are able to assist in providing the support they need.”