ELCAP staff raise funds for Ukraine

ELCAP staff raise funds for Ukraine

Big hearted ELCAP staff have raised over £750 to support individuals with learning disabilities who are affected by the war in Ukraine.

Donations and the proceeds of a fundraising raffle will be sent to Ukraine via Inclusion Europe, an organisation which campaigns for a Europe where people with learning disabilities enjoy equal rights and fully participate in all aspects of life.

Georgie Gardiner, a Support Practitioner in Midlothian and a key member of the fundraising team, said:

“I support someone to attend church and share lunch with his parents every Sunday.  On our way to church, I heard an item on the radio that shocked and upset me.

I listened to distressing accounts of older adults and people with intellectual and learning disabilities enduring war.  They had been abandoned, with no accounts or records of their whereabouts.

I looked in the car mirror and was struck by the relaxed demeanour of the person I was assisting.  I wondered how the individuals ELCAP supports would cope and survive in such horrific circumstances.

I felt helpless, but then wondered if ELCAP could come together to assist some of the most vulnerable people caught up in the war.”

Estera Pyrek, who works in Tranent and helped identify an organisation which would ensure good use of the funds raised, said:

“As a Support Practitioner, but also as a sister of someone with a developmental disability who lives just across the border with Ukraine, it is extremely important to me that our most vulnerable people are not forgotten at this difficult time.

It warms my heart to see everyone at ELCAP be so passionate about helping those in need and I hope our fundraising efforts will continue.”

Most of the funds for Ukraine were raised through raffles, which were held at ELCAP’s recent staff seminars.

Thanks to the local businesses and ELCAP staff who contributed raffle prizes and congratulations to Lorraine Clark, Ashley Jardine and Sandra Raeburn-Small, who won the hampers as prizes.