Football manager turned provost on mission to help Ukrainian refugees

A former football manager is helping to deliver humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Jim Leishman, who had two spells as the manager of Scottish side Dunfermline FC before becoming the Provost of Fife, is part of  a group from the area who are driving to Poland with supplies for those escaping the conflict.

He said local volunteers had been “working for ages to put this humanitarian aid together”.

He then spoke to a council colleague and “asked if I could help in any way” and said that had resulted in him joining the trip.

Organisers have collected “medical supplies, nappies, bandages, shoes for the kids and adults, everything you can imagine”, he said.

It is now being taken to Poland in two minibuses and two vans.

Mr Leishman told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme that the situation in Ukraine was “horrendous”, with “people of all ages being killed and shot”.

He said: “That is why the local community has responded to this.

“I would hate that one day my family had to pack a bag and flee from my village and I am left with my son to stand and fight the enemy.

“I would hate to be in that position.”