To wonder how to best help the Ukraine?

[Hibbledibble]

I'm watching the news constantly, and very disturbed by what is happening.

I understand that sending physical donations is not the most helpful, for a variety of reasons. I've donated to two well known charities working with refugees in the region.

It really doesn't feel enough though.

What else can I do, from England? I have family and work, so can't go to the region.

Is there anything else we can do?

If you didn't have family and work, you'd actually go to the region?

Yes, I would, at least to a neighbouring country to help refugees. I'm a doctor, so do have useful skills to offer.

I feel like you do. I don’t have much stuff to give as I sent it all to the Afghanistan refugees.

I’ve read plenty to suggest that money is more important than stuff because stuff takes a lot of time to sort out and there will always be a wider variety of stuff needed than what is donated.

I’ve just sent quite a lot of money split between Unicef and Dec.
I’d like to go too(to the border, not to Ukraine) too but like you with kids and a job it isn’t happening.
Plus I think the Poles seem to have the border situation under control

Charities can help at the border and also within Ukraine to some extent

Spread pro-Ukraine, pro-NATO and anti-Russian material on social media etc. Print posters and stick them up around town urging people to boycott Russian products and businesses owned by Russians or that employ Russian workers.

We can't do much from afar - and hopefully we remain watching the war from afar - but we can make sure that individual Russians feel some pain from what their country is doing.

Donate here zrzutka.pl/en/razemdlaukrainy - includes such charities as Homo Faber that have been providing on the ground assistance to Ukrainians for almost a week now, which they are able to mobilise faster than bigger/ Western European charities due to their small scale and immediate proximity to Ukraine - they also provide updates, photos and copies of their accounts for transparency

You can book accommodation in Ukraine like Kiev or Lviv to help the citizens directly. In Lviv you can ask for the accommodation to be used for refugees. I also struggle to think how to best help them…

I think writing to your MP can be very helpful, to keep up pressure on simplifying visa rules and accepting more refugees. At the moment hardly anyone is being let in even if they have close family in the UK.

@MorningStarling

Spread pro-Ukraine, pro-NATO and anti-Russian material on social media etc. Print posters and stick them up around town urging people to boycott Russian products and businesses owned by Russians or that employ Russian workers.

We can't do much from afar - and hopefully we remain watching the war from afar - but we can make sure that individual Russians feel some pain from what their country is doing.

Individual Russians who have no control over what their dictator is doing.

We have donated to the Red Cross

Give directly via charity websites - anything via justgiving, etc is likely to have hangling fees - although these do get waived occasionally for makor crises.
Avoid "go fund me" type pages for people raising money "on behalf of" major charities, or individual 'sending aid to'... it migh get there, but could be fraudulent
DEC does a fabulous job - but it does just fundraise and pass the money on to trusted partner charities, rather than deliver aid itself.

@HunterCarrie

You can book accommodation in Ukraine like Kiev or Lviv to help the citizens directly. In Lviv you can ask for the accommodation to be used for refugees. I also struggle to think how to best help them…

Personally i think you’re better off donating to charities than booking an air b&b - there are unfortunately so many possibilities for fraud by doing this.

You could start by stopping calling Ukraine 'the Ukraine'.

What Ukraine needs the most now is peace and ceasefire so make Russian life here and elsewhere as difficult as possible. They are not brainwashed as everyone is trying to say, they have chosen to be passive…

Physical donations make sense, I am a volunteer for a Polish political association. We have volunteers based on the Polish border looking after babies from Ukrainian orphanages and women who just gave birth or arrived from Ukrainian with newborns. We are collecting clothes, nappies, cosmetics, anything baby related.