“I'm extremely relieved that we are over the line” - that was what Dnipro Kids Appeal chairman Steve Carr said of the successful evacuation of many Ukrainian orphanage children to Scotland.
Perth businessman Steve was waiting on a train from London King’s Cross to take him home on Thursday March 24 following the experience of a lifetime: assisting a group of 49 Ukrainian orphans from their war-torn country.
Having first travelled on a special relief flight from Warsaw to Heathrow, their next plane came down in Edinburgh on Wednesday night after an agonising two-week travel visa hold-up.
The young people have gone to a location in Callander to be sheltered from the war in Ukraine. After an acclimatising period they will move to Edinburgh, split into smaller groups.
Deputy First Minister and Perthshire North MSP John Swinney expressed delight at their touchdown in Scotland: "This is wonderful news. I am sure that Scotland will open our hearts to these children and treat them with warmth, dignity and compassion.
"A huge thank you to Steven Carr and all those involved with Dnipro Kids for their tireless work on behalf of these children."
The charity, which was set up by caring Hibernian fans, has been supporting the orphanages for many years.
Steve flew to Poland and took part in the daring bus rescue which brought the youngsters out of Lviv and across the border into Poland.
Leaving his job in Perth running a security alarm firm without a backwards glance, he went on two dangerous round trips beside Polish coach drivers to fetch the various groups of tinies and teens being evacuated from Russian shelling in their home city of Dnipro.
Steve is looking forward to being back in the Fair City for a few days to unwind after a nail-biting time ferrying the children and their home ‘mothers’ across the Polish border and to a succession of Polish hotels.
Disputed paperwork to allow them to travel from Poland to the UK put a spanner in the works of the plan to fly them out.
“The worst bit was when their flight to the UK was cancelled on Monday,” recalled Steve. “I was so deflated. I began to question if it would happen.”
Steve said the Scottish MP Ian Blackford had been like “a dog with a bone” in pressing Westminster for the children to be given immediate clearance to get to Scotland. “Ian was superb. He pushed for us at every stage.”
