A thank you to NationalWorld readers for your generosity towards the people of Ukraine

The response to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal has been inspiring. Since we launched under two weeks ago, more than £180 million has been raised across the UK.

Given the horrendous eyewitness accounts we are seeing on our TV screens and hearing on our radios, perhaps we shouldn’t be that surprised: we all want to do whatever we can.

This uplifting demonstration of global citizenship is hugely appreciated, particularly with recent rises in living costs here. So, most of all, we’d simply like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ for your support.

We are also heartened that so many have heeded our messages, shared by the Ukrainian Association of Great Britain and others across the UK, that financial support for the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal is the most effective way of getting the right support to the right people at the right time.

As well as the thousands of cash donations, big and small from the readers of NationalWorld and other titles, along with those from businesses and local government, we must also thank political leaders from all parties for standing together to back this vital Appeal.

Thanks too to the Welsh and Scottish Government for their £4 million and £2 million donations respectively and to the UK Government for doubling the first £25 million we received from the public.

Thirteen of the DEC’s 15 members, on or near the front lines in Ukraine or at its borders, are now delivering food, water, shelter, healthcare and counselling to people whose lives have been torn apart.

Those fleeing this conflict face a deeply uncertain future. We pledge to spend this money responsibly with a firm focus on the most urgent needs of all those affected in the months and years to come.

Thank you for placing your trust in us, and our work, just as you have been for our ongoing efforts to support those so badly affected by the recent conflict in Afghanistan.

For nearly 60 years, in times of crisis, the DEC has brought the UK’s leading humanitarian charities together to help people in life-and-death situations. With your continued support, we have no intention of stopping now.

Saleh Saeed is Chief Executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee

Support people fleeing the devastating conflict in Ukraine: donate to the DEC appeal

Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) charities and their local partners are in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries providing food, water, shelter and medical assistance. Learn more and donate what you can today

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