Ukraine: Jersey government donates £1m to Bailiff's appeal

The chief minister commended islanders for their help in response to the Ukraine conflict

The Government of Jersey has donated £1m to the island's Ukraine appeal.

The Bailiff's Chambers and Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA) launched their joint appeal on Tuesday to help refugee's fleeing the Russian invasion.

The donation will be made directly available to JOA and will come from the 2022 General Reserve Fund, which is used to fund unforeseen costs.

Chief Minister Senator John Le Fondre said the island's response had been "absolutely fantastic".

"We've all seen the devastating news about what is happening in the Ukraine and since the beginning of the week we have been working with the treasury minister that we want to make a contribution of £1m which will go towards the islands Ukraine appeal to kickstart the future appeals islanders will be donating as well," he said.

The JOA donated £360,000 to the Bailiff's fund which will support frontline agencies working to help Ukrainian civilians

Mr Le Fondre said the financial support would be available to the Ukrainian people "earlier next week".

He said: "We wanted to make sure something demonstrates our substantial support for the people of Ukraine given the horrific times they are facing at the moment and particularly given our history and culture and the dark days we faced in the early 1940s so we're going to be working with JOA and they have some plans in place to directly support the people of Ukraine earlier next week.

"The response of the island has been absolutely fantastic seeing how people have been donating and organising for the collection of Ukraine and I hope the community continues this."

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