SUNFLOWER SCOTLAND – UKRAINE CHARITY
Current Appeals for Ukraine
Please see our top-priority projects and consider supporting our work: make a donation or volunteer.
We help people on the ground in Ukraine, and we know first hand that the war has introduced new horrific challenges. Humanitarians must focus on current problems, rather than keep sending warm clothes like it’s still 2022.
Please consider donating: we are really grateful for your support. We wouldn’t be able to help Ukraine without you. Your contributions do make a difference. We publish reports for all completed missions and you can see how your donations actually help Ukraine.
Page updated on: 11.05.2024
Rehabilitation of amputees
While defending their families and their country, many Ukrainians have suffered terrible wounds. Some have lost their limbs. According to The Wall Street Journal, by summer 2023 up to 50,000 Ukrainian defenders had one or two limbs amputated.
As the war of attrition goes on, by the end of 2024 this horrific count may exceed 100,000.
We support two centres that carry out rehabilitation of Ukrainian women and men who have lost their limbs or sustained life-threatening wounds:
- “Path to Health”, Dnipro, eastern Ukraine
- “Patriot”, Pershotravensk, eastern Ukraine
They get either very minimal government support: Ukraine hasn’t anticipated such a tragic tsunami of casualties, and its hospitals are overwhelmed.
That’s why we – volunteers and charities – need to help.
Our work to date:
In April 2024, we delivered a cargo of 8 exercise machines and 5 wheelchairs to the Pershotravensk rehab.
Essentially we helped to kickstart the rehab’s operation, and they are now able to offer physiotherapy to amputees. Please see our full report about delivering rehabilitation machines.
Our work was featured in The Scotsman (the most prominent Scottish newspaper): “War in Ukraine: The Scottish charity helping war veterans in mining town where one in 30 people have lost limb”.
Next steps
We plan to deliver 10 exercise machines to the “Path to Health” rehab in Dnipro. Thanks to the wonderful support of Scottish people, we are on track to collect 10 machines. What we don’t have is a van to deliver them. Sunflower Scotland donated the van which we used previously to a charity in Ukraine.
Update of 11 May: Thanks to the support by our donors, we raised £5,000 and bought a Transit van, so we can deliver the machines.
Because of the Russian offensive on Kharkiv, we decided to donate the van to Ukraine’s defence forces, which protect millions of innocent civilians in this area from rape and murder. We will first deliver the rehabilitation machines, and donate the van after that.
We still need £1,800 to fund the journey, from Edinburgh to Dnipro to Kharkiv. It’s going to be a long journey of about 3,200 miles. If you can, please support our mission.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Purchase of a van | |
| Mission to Dnipro, Ukraine | -£1,800 |
| Available funds | |
| Shortfall (to raise) | -£1,800 |
Saving of lives on the front line
There are two main reasons why so many Ukraine defenders – women and men – lose their limbs: (1) the overuse of tourniquets for medium wounds; (2) the dreadfully long evac time.
Due to the lack of training, the wounded use tourniquet where pressure bandage would do. Tourniquets need to be taken off in about one hour, after which the the limb may be lost. Pressure bandages – such as Israeli bandages – have been used by Israel and the USA for medium bleeding. They may save a life without sacrificing the limb.
At the front line, the wounded may have to wait for many hours for an evac vehicle to arrive. If the vehicle broke down, friends will have to drag the them on their shoulders to the medical post, which may be a few miles away. It may take hours. Evac vehicles (typically regular 4×4 trucks) break down or get blown up. That’s why we need to send more.
Currently we plan to aid two frontline regiments:
- 100 Israeli bandages x 2
- 4×4 pickup trucks x 2
Our chairman is a certified International First Responder, he will visit the regiments and conduct trainings on how to apply pressure bandages to stop the bleeding.
We already have one 4×4 truck (Nissan Navara), but its clutch needs fixing before it can drive to Ukraine. Our plan is to buy 200 x Israeli bandages (£1,920), buy one more 4×4 truck Nissan Navara or Mitsubishi L200, £4,000), and fix the one we have already.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| 6″ Israeli Bandage x 200 pcs | -£1,920 |
| Buy 4×4 truck | -£4,000 |
| Repair of the existing 4×4 truck | -£1,500 |
| Mission to Donbas, tac-med training | -£2,000 |
| Total | -£9,420 |