From. Alan Preston 

A huge thank you! - Progress Report of our Ukrainian ladies 

This report is for all you generous people who have helped our four Ukrainian ladies settle well in Southern Spain. Some have helped through direct giving, others through employment or through gifts in kind. Thank you so much.

The goal has been to reach a point where their growing monthly income through casual employment eclipses the need to be dependent on charitable giving. They have been working diligently and successfully in the local area offering gardening, house cleaning etc. So hopefully they may achieve this early next year. We will keep you posted.

They want to return to Ukraine, and have now set aside enough money for their return airfare. However they will not return until their family members involved in the war indicate that it is safe to do so. How long will that be? No one knows! But we have said that our adjacent apartment is available for years, if necessary.

Through people's generosity we have also been able to supply them all with bikes, and two refurbished replacement laptops, weekly food bank items from New Life Church Spain, and monthly Food Bank from the Town Hall. Because of people and churches' generosity, it has also been possible to add a monthly stipend to their employment income. This fund will be depleted by Christmas.

As we look into the future, there is one last thing that we would like to give these ladies before they depart to their war-torn land. They are constantly on their mobiles to far-flung members of their scattered family and friends. Sadly all their mobiles are somewhat old and clunky! We would like to give them four modern mobiles, and we're not talking about an expensive iPhone 13. A reliable Samsung Galaxy mobile would be brilliant. To facilitate that I would need an extra £1000 or equivalent.

A huge thank you to you again! Alan & Marian Preston