The Rotary Clubs of Edinburgh and Washington DC have combined their efforts to work with displaced Ukrainian people living in Edinburgh.

At a Rotary Edinburgh Club Meeting in March this year at the Scotsman Hotel, the Consul General of the United States, Jack Hillmeyer, presented a cheque for $1000 to Hannah Beaton-Hawryluk, Chair of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) Edinburgh branch.

The funds were generously donated by the Rotary Club of Washington DC, following an approach to them by the Rotary Club of Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Rotary Club has financially and practically contributed to AUGB to implement their programme of cultural activities which have enhanced the mental health, well-being and integration of Ukrainian people in Edinburgh.

Many of them are mothers and young people, and they often struggle with mental health issues and have difficulty integrating with the local community.

The programme enables people to be together to talk to each other of their recent experiences and learn in a safe space. This practice is a known method of supporting a community to maintain their mental health and wellbeing.

Activities include collective cooking, art for well-being and community meals.

In terms of practical assistance, the Rotary Club of Edinburgh has also funded a guided city bus tour to help Ukrainians familiarise themselves with the city and its heritage, and supported two fundraising concerts that has brought Edinburgh and Ukrainian people together, socially.

“We are always very appreciative for the support we receive from donors,” said Hannah Beaton-Hawryluk, “but from Rotary it has become more than just financial support. The friendship and partnership working is amazing, and Rotary looks to what our community really needs, emotionally and socially.”

Edinburgh Rotary has a long association of support for the people of Ukraine, being one of the six sponsor clubs of the Rotary Club of Kyiv back in 1991. This was the first Rotary club founded in Ukraine after the country gained its independence.

Along with Lynnwood club in the USA, Edinburgh took the lead in co-ordinating the consortium of clubs, and its first meeting was held in Edinburgh in September 1991.

A programme of fund-raising was organised to help the project, and on May 9th 1992 the Rotary Club of Kyiv was founded with 60 founding members.

Eleven people from the Rotary Club of Edinburgh attended the ceremony in the Palace of Culture, with Vice President Sandy Darling stealing the show with a stunning speech in Ukrainian. Following the Russian invasion in 2022, the six clubs started working together again to support Ukrainians both in their own country and here in Scotland.

The Rotary Club of Edinburgh and the Rotary Club of Washington DC have a very close relationship, with members from both clubs joining each other’s meetings by Zoom, and often visiting each other.

In fact, the relationship is enshrined in an agreement, the ‘Capital Cities Co-operation Agreement’ which was signed by the Presidents of both Clubs at the meeting of the Edinburgh Club on June 6th 2013.

This agreement emerged when both clubs realised that in 2013, they would each celebrate their centenaries; Washington DC club being founded in July 1912, just before Edinburgh in September 1912.

Exchange visits were arranged for that year, with Edinburgh visiting Washington in April, followed by Washington jetting into Edinburgh in the June. Varied entertainments and trips were enjoyed by both groups, and the exchange was considered a huge success by all those participating. The visits were a clear indication of the joint commitment of both clubs to co-operation and international goodwill and demonstrated the huge pride they both had in their wonderful cities.