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William and Kate pledge second Ukraine donation as they meet aid workers

The royals toured the Disasters Emergency Committee’s London offices to hear how the £300 million raised so far is being spent.

21 April 2022

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have pledged to make a second donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine appeal as they praised the DEC’s “incredible” total which has topped £300 million.

William and Kate hailed the generosity of the British public, with the duke highlighting how the huge total was raised during the difficult financial situation many people are facing.

During a visit to the DEC’s London offices, the duke told staff as they sat at their desks: “We were saying with the background of the cost-of-living crisis you’ve raised £300 million in eight weeks – that’s incredible.”

Russian invasion of Ukraine
The couple spoke with aid workers in the field over a video call (Jeff Spicer/PA)

The couple chatted via a video call with senior aid workers from DEC member organisations who painted a grim picture of the situation in Ukraine, with Rachel Cummings, health lead for Save the Children, telling the royals the “scale and complexity of the crisis is challenging”.

Speaking in person to a group of aid workers who had returned from the region William delivered the sobering assessment: “We need less disasters in the world”.

Saleh Saeed, DEC’s chief executive said after the visit: “They were very keen to hear how the appeal was going and thrilled to hear that we’d raise over £300 million and solidified in their minds the goodwill and the response and the generosity of the British public.”

Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Mr Saeed and DEC staff in London (Jeff Spicer/PA)

He added the couple were so “enthused” after their visit they were “planning” on a second donation after giving to the appeal earlier in the year.

Mr Saeed said: “I think people have obviously been moved by what they’ve seen on the news and they want to help and people feel helpless in a way.

“The need inside Ukraine and surrounding countries is huge. So the £300 million is of course a huge amount of money and we’re very grateful for that, but we also have to remember there are other crises around the world.

“And whilst the focus remains on Ukraine for the moment, we still have an Afghanistan appeal open that’s raised £44 million, we’re worried about famine in the Horn of Africa, global hunger is on the rise and the World Bank today warned with soaring food prices millions could be pushed into poverty.”

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