A FUNDRAISING sale organised by a Ukrainian baker to help those caught up in the conflict in his homeland has raised more than £25,000.
Hundreds of people queued around the block to buy cakes, buns and other baked treats from the Deanston Bakery in the Shawlands area of Glasgow on Sunday.
Yuriy Kachak, above, organised the fundraising initiative as he felt “helpless” when news of the Russian invasion unfolded and decided to use his skills to do what he could to help people affected.
READ MORE: Russian invasion of Ukraine - New ceasefire after 'catastrophe'
Some people queued for more than two hours on Sunday to buy treats such as cinnamon buns from a selection of goods baked by Kachak and his team, alongside homebakes donated by local people.
The whole of Southside is out to support Deanston Bakery’s fundraiser for Ukraine, an approximation of the queue size, which is slowly getting bigger ❤️ pic.twitter.com/wXfhbavrEd
— Abbi Garton-Crosbie (@agc_reports) March 6, 2022
Raffle tickets with prizes donated by local businesses were also on sale, and there was live music to entertain people as they waited.
All proceeds raised on the day will go to help those affected by the war in Ukraine.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon thanks Scots as Ukraine fundraiser reaches £10m in under four days
The bakery team thanked everyone for their support in a post on Instagram on Sunday night, writing: “So far ... together, we’ve raised £25,000.
“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us this last week and everyone who came along today.”
Earlier they said: “What a day. Thank you so much to every single person who came along to support the bake sale today and for all the messages of support.”
The posts drew praise on social media with comments including “Absolutely incredible. Just shows how important you guys are to our community and how we all stand with you” and “so heartwarming to see such an amazing turnout”.
Kachak, who is from the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine, has lived in the UK for 19 years and moved to Scotland four years ago.
He runs the popular Deanston Bakery with his wife Svetlana, who is from Latvia, and his mother and brother also work there.
Speaking earlier in the week, Kachak had said: “I felt a bit helpless when it all started so I thought that there’s a lot of things I can’t do but this is a thing I can do, I can help people out.”
He added: “All 100% of sales will be going to Ukraine.
“It’s not about us as a business, it’s about people getting together and raising funds to help those who need it.”
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