The Greater Chernobyl Cause is helping families who live in awful conditions
By Ellen O'Brien
The Greater Chernobyl Cause plans to come to the aid of the village of Kukhari in Ukraine which has suffered significant amounts of destruction due to the Russian invasion.
The Greater Chernobyl Cause, a Cork-based charity, was first formed after Ukraine’s worst nuclear disaster. The charity is active in small villages that have been neglected, helping families who live in awful conditions to survive by providing them with clothes, bedding, generators and power banks.
The charity’s founder Fiona Corcoran headed to Ukraine earlier this week to examine the impact that their work has had and to provide help to the village of Kukhari near the capital Kiev.
Fiona said that this village needs “every form of humanitarian aid. This includes blankets, food, power and a roof over their heads. The residents have seen their homes reduced to rubble. The challenges in the aftermath of such devastating attacks are overwhelming.”
Fiona added: “We have been humbled by the support we have received ever since the war began. Your generous support will again make a tangible difference in alleviating the pain and suffering of the most vulnerable.”
Former BBC News cameraman Brian Staveley has accompanied Fiona Corcoran to record how the projects that the charity has financed are progressing. While they are in Ukraine, they will organise a humanitarian aid train that will travel across the country to Kharkiv which is the second largest city in Ukraine.
Once it arrives, volunteers will unload and distribute the aid to people in dire need and to 150 families in the surrounding villages.
On 24 February, the duo will travel to the capital city of Kiev which coincides with the commemorations of the two-year anniversary of the Russian Invasion.
The charity supports a food programme for the needy in Kiev and also assists the work of Our Father’s House which is a place for vulnerable street children. The charity recently financed a bomb shelter for this organisation.
Fiona Corcoran and Brian Staveley will then travel to the village of Kukhari, which is the centre of the charity’s new appeal.
Fiona said this village has been “attacked mercilessly and where the fight for survival is an everyday reality”.
Fiona also outlined the importance of the charity’s work: “For the innocent victims of this brutal war, hope and self dignity are often hard to find. We must not forget them. Families continue to be left without shelter, food, water and even the most basic amenities”.
Fiona thanked the public for their help and appealed for continuing support for their new campaign.
“We are reaching out in the hope that you will support us with our life savings work,” Fiona concluded.
If people wish to make a donation visit Greatercheronylcause.ie or send what you can to The Greater Chernobyl Cause, Unit 2 Southside Industrial Estate, Pouladuf Road, Togher.
A rally to mark the second anniversary of the invasion is taking place on Saturday at 2.30pm, with people gathering at the Grand Parade .