Hi. I'm Deb. Exactly six months from today (23 October 2025) I turn 50 years old. People have been asking me what I'm doing for my birthday and I couldn't think of a single thing I need. But this is what I want - to raise £5,000 by the day I turn 50 for a small charity dedicated to directly helping animals and people in Ukraine.

The charity is called K9 Rescue Ukraine and is registered in Ukraine. It's run by a team led by Tom Bates in Ukraine, Rebecca Renmant-Oliver in the UK and Nick Tadd. In Ukraine, Tom, along with Luda Khomenko (director of K9 Rescue Ukraine) and Olga Sotnikova devote their lives to helping homeless and abandoned animals.

Since March 2022, K9 Rescue Ukraine has been battling the odds to get aid to where it's needed and, should you decided to donate either via this fundraiser or directly to K9 Rescue Ukraine, you can track exactly where every penny goes.

There are no salaries or overheads taken from donations. Every single donation goes where it's needed.

I was introduced to K9 Rescue Ukraine by Vanessa Leon, who co-owns and manages The Pet Store in Ringmer. During the last year, I have been writing about the charity in local media as much as possible and donating money when I can. But it's not enough. I need to do more.

And so, here we are. Over the next few months, I am going to be selling my art, manning charity stalls at events, drumming up sponsorship for tasks, challenges and chores of all kinds. In short, I'll do pretty much anything (not that obviously) to reach my target by 23 April 2026.

I cannot believe that Ukraine has been suffering and dying for four years. I cannot believe that still the world doesn't act. I cannot believe the horror and despair. And I have come to realise that being outraged, shocked and angry doesn't help anything. So, I'm doing what I can with what I have.

I will be writing blogs of where the money goes, who is involved and why fundraising like this is absolutely essential. In times like this, all we have is each other. Please help me to help them.

You can find out all about the charity here

If you would like to donate directly to the charity you can send via PayPal to [email redacted].uk

Or you can donate directly via the charity's Amazon wishlist here.