Welsh doctor and reality television star Dr Alex George has generously offered up a cottage in Pembrokeshire to a family in Ukraine. The Love Island star, who hails from Carmarthen, said he recently bought four holiday cottages in the county to renovate and lease-out for holidaymakers - but has decided to give one away to a Ukrainian family "for as long as they need".
Generous Alex, 31, took to social media on Sunday to confirm the news. Sharing a photo of him standing at the front door of one of the properties he's purchased, he wrote: "Today’s the day! I’m so excited to announce that I’ve bought four holiday cottages in beautiful Pembrokeshire, in Wales. I initially bought these for my passion for property and renovation, as well as wanting to create relaxing spaces for families to holiday and enjoy the Welsh countryside in!
"With all of the current devastation in Ukraine, I have decided I would love one of the cottages to be home to a Ukrainian family for as long as they need. My plan is to start the renovations and get the properties into a good state to house a family as soon as possible. If you’d like to follow me along on my renovation journey, go and follow Dr Alex Renovates [on Instagram]. Please feel free to let me know all your renovation tips and tricks below." For more news about the invasion of Ukraine, go here.
On his renovation page, Dr Alex added that he was going to renovate the property for the Ukrainian family "as quickly as possible". While on a video on his YouTube channel, he welcomes viewers to Wales and outlines his plans to refurbish the properties.
He said: "I bought the properties off a very lovely gentleman who owned the place before. They were run as long-term lets, we basically wanted to buy it and turn it into holiday cottages.
"We've ummed and erred about what to do because things going on in the world right now is tough," he added. "And I think we've all been moved about the things that we've seen in Ukraine, I think it's moved all of us - and it kind of makes you think 'well, what can we do to help?'
"But I felt quite powerless, to be honest, in the last few weeks and months. What I want to do - and we've chatted about it and I've chatted to my family to see what they think as well - what I'd like to do is to put one of the cottages to have a Ukrainian family, Ukrainian refugees, to stay there as long as they need to.
"The cottages are not in a fit state at the moment to help people, one cottage is but needs sorting and I don't want to put people in a place that's not comfortable. So the plan is basically I'm going to renovate all the cottages as quickly as possible, to really good standard (...) and one of those cottages when it's done, I think we're going to put a family in [there]."
People across the UK have praised Dr Alex for his kind gesture. His initial post announcing his intention to renovate the properties and give one to a Ukrainian family has received more than 87,000 likes in less than 24 hours. Television presenter and activist Katie Piper commented three applause emojis, whilst Geordie Shore's Vicky Pattinson said: "You are just [applause] [heart-eyes emoji]." One fan commented: "What an amazing thing to be able to do!" while another said: "what an incredible thing to do!" A third simply said: "You are amazing," and another said: "Amazing! I live in Pembrokeshire, beautiful place! You picked well. You're doing such an amazing thing too!"
Dr Alex regularly posts updates on his Instagram offering his fans and followers an insight into his daily life. Last week, he was praised for opening up about taking medication every day to help him manage his anxiety. In a video he said: "I take Sertraline for anxiety, it stops anxiety ruling my life and stopping me from doing the things that I love doing and do you know what, I take this pill every morning and I'm not ashamed."
