Cultures will come together at a special meal in Castle Douglas on Sunday.
Ukrainians who have moved to the area after fleeing the Russian invasion will be offering up a taste of their homeland at Nikos Greek restaurant.
And as a special thank you for all the help they have received, there is no charge for those who want to enjoy the meal.
Sam Priest from Nikos said: “They’re really grateful for the support and the generous donations that people have given them since they arrived and they wanted to give the community an event which would share their traditional food cuisine.
“Last Monday, Putin’s new general dropped 86 missiles. They’re quite distressed about that because their families are in these areas, so I suggested we do something. It will take their mind off what is going on.
“They’re very positive people, they like to be doing stuff and they’re dead grateful for being here so this will give them something to focus on. They want to be part of the community and adapt to UK life.
“Nikos is funding the meal. We’ll buy all the food and anything else that’s needed and the Ukrainians will cook and serve it and mingle among the people who want to come to learn a bit about their culture and they can have a free meal on us.
“We’ll have a tombola and a donation plate and that money will go towards a festive event for Ukrainians in the local community. They don’t celebrate Christmas but they celebrate New Year - they have an Christmas tree but it’s for December 31.”
Meals will be served between noon and 5pm this Sunday and places can be booked by calling 01556 504345 or through Facebook.
And Sam gave a taste of some of the delights in store.
“The meal is going to be a three course set mezze meal. It will be a traditional Ukrainian soup called borscht, served with spring onions and salt. Our restaurant is a mezze restaurant so we’re going to give them three or four Ukrainian mezze dishes of their traditional cuisine, then a Ukrainian dessert which are pancakes filled with fresh apple.”
