Ukrainian mum & daughter who fled to Scotland with just £200 fundraises for money to start new life

A UKRAINIAN mum-of-one who fled to Scotland five months ago with just £200 is raising funds for a new life in America.

Anastasia Isakova, 32, ended up in Falkirk with her seven-year-old daughter after leaving war-torn Kharkiv with just the most basic of belongings.

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The pair initially escaped to Poland where they stayed for four months, with former lawyer Anastasia working online and as a cleaner to get by.

Now they have been offered a sponsorship by a family in Charlotte, North Carolina via the United For Ukraine programme (U4U).

She has raised £1316 of her £2,500 target for a one-way plane ticket and two suitcases for her and kid Yeva.

She said: “In July we flew to Scotland and now we live in Falkirk.

“When I was living in Poland I found out about it when England and Wales closed its doors to Ukrainians and only Scotland was left.

“I looked it up and wasn’t sure I wanted to. But on Instagram and the internet, landscapes and views of Scotland started to pop up and I knew I wanted to see it.

“We met the volunteers and were taken to a hotel in Falkirk. We spent three weeks there where we met other Ukrainians who had also come on 21 July.

“It’s lovely here, there are very nice and kind people. The children at school are fantastic all very kind and open-minded.”

Her GoFundMe, set up just four days ago, reads: “I found a sponsor in the USA through the U4U programme. They are a wonderful family who are willing to take us in. But they can’t help with buying tickets.

“My financial situation has deteriorated during the war. If you can help us it would be a real miracle.

“I need 2 tickets for me and my daughter and our two suitcases tickets if possible to Charlotte, North Carolina.”

Despite trying to get by in Scotland and attending college two days a week to learn English, Anastasia, a lawyer of over eight years, knows that they can improve their life in America.

Anastasia added: “On 19 November I posted on Facebook that we were looking for a sponsor in America and on 30 November, I contacted my sponsor.

“We called each other, got to know each other, and on 7 December, I got permission for me and my child to enter the country.

“America is attractive because it is the land of opportunity, freedom and security.

“When we got permission I started to monitor the tickets and realised that it was too expensive for me and I couldn’t go. I started to write everywhere I could, churches, volunteers, charities and airlines.

“A woman from one church contacted me and she said she would talk to the church leaders, who said they wanted to contact my sponsors in America.

“They talked and she said they couldn’t donate large sums of money to an individual so she suggested setting up a collection.

“I didn’t really believe it would work. It’s amazing and from all these events I think I’m definitely moving in the right direction.”

You can donate to the GoFundMe page here.

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