£10k donation to Ukraine

Members are being recommended to agree the provision of financial support for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help fund its members UK-based activities.

In turn this will enable resources to be freed for their efforts to support the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Members of the full council approved a motion back in March recording their horror at the events in Ukraine.

At the same time members also expressed a wish for a more tangible contribution in the form of a financial donation to the Disasters Emergency Fund.

Since that time the situation in the country has worsened with an estimated four million people displaced from their homes.

And when elected members new and old meet on Thursday, June 23, they will be asked to endorse the £10k allocation.

A report to the councillors, from David Robertson, the authority’s director of finance and corporate governance, says: “Glasgow City Council has previously announced that it will pay £20,000 to the DEC to help its members UK-based activities. It is understood that a similar approach has been followed by other Scottish local authorities, including South Lanarkshire and Perth and Kinross Council.

“As the people of Scotland, including the residents of the Scottish Borders, have responded very generously to the crisis in Ukraine there is a risk that the council could be seen as out of touch if it does not do something similar, in a way that is permitted by legislation.

“Failing to donate to an organisation such as the DEC, especially when other local authorities in Scotland have done so and as the council is promoting this charity on its Ukraine webpage, could have a negative impact on the council’s reputation.”