I am running for the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Running Club, the RCUCRC. We are a team fundraising for the Ukrainian people affected by the Russian conflict. All donations to our fundraising channels go straight to the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

I came to the UK as a Ukrainian refugee on May 4, 2022. I was not a runner, and after I was persuaded by my boss, I ran my first parkrun on 12-Jul-2025! I then trained for the #Sheffield10k on 29-Sep and ran #ClowneHalfMarathon on 23-Nov-2025. I am training for the Great North Run in #NewcastleUK on 13-Sep-2026 and plan to join the #RCURCRC team running for the Ukrainian Red Cross.

Why? Your help is needed now due to the severe winter and the power outages after the attacks on power stations. Temperatures are falling to zero Fahrenheit and 1.2 Million properties are without power at the end of January. When peace does come, funds will be needed for repatriation and rebuilding. But fear, anger and concern across Ukraine right now is about the continuing conflict and the hardship of survival this winter. Missile and drone attacks have hit record levels every year, and this is the fourth winter of the troubles.

Ukrainians at home are worried about spending most of the day without heat and light as power stations are being targeted once again. Surviving on no power at all for over 24 hours is almost impossible. People are trying to keep warm, whilst cooking on portable gas stoves. That is bad enough, only to be followed by the night-time torture of trying to sleep and staying safe. Ukrainians have a stark choice of remaining at home and hoping to stay safe behind two walls with a chance of getting some sleep, or trying to sleep in the car in underground car parks. Going to the shelters two or three times a night is not entirely safe, but people end up not sleeping at all. Whilst two walls at home can protect against drones, hypersonic missiles can destroy entire buildings and there is not enough time to escape to shelters when the air raid warning sounds. In high-rise apartments, people do not want to use the lifts, as getting stuck when the power fails is a living nightmare.

You too can join in this challenge! Contact the RCUCRC at admin@rcucrc.org.uk for details. Or why not do something special in 2026? Join in the RCUCRC fundraiser and help the people of Ukraine. Your fundraiser could be one event, or your goal could be a distance target, for example, 100km or whatever you think, to suit your timeline? Maybe 500km or 1,000km this year, where your running app data so far counts towards your goal. For help, you can email 2026@rcucrc.org.uk. Of course, you don’t have to run and you can just donate at www.justgiving.com/team/rcucrc.

Want to join our running group? The RCUCRC has over 1,000 members worldwide and you can join at www.strava.com/clubs/rcucrc. Together, we run around the world every 14 days, so if you are not running with us already, please join and add your running distance to our total. We organise twice weekly #Virtual and #InPerson runs posted on Strava from our base in #SheffieldUK.

So, how did we start? When conflict began in Feb-2022, the RCUCRC founder, Pierre Laubscher, ran for the Ukrainian Red Cross in the Sheffield Half Marathon in Mar-2022... and he just carried on. Pierre passed run 6,000 km in Aug-2025 and is due to pass 7,000 km by the fourth anniversary of the conflict. Please see the link to the RCUCRC and Pierre's story below and information about the hardship in the winter of 2025-26, and how your donations will help the people of Ukraine.

Thank you so much for your help.

RCUCRC page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/plaubscher-2022

RCUCRC: Supporting the British Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross charities.