A NORTH Belfast tennis club is raising money for Ukrainian refugees sheltering in the home town of one of its Polish members.
Cavehill tennis club hosted a tournament yesterday afternoon and held a raffle in aid of refugees who fled their homes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
Club member Jarek Luszcz said the money will go towards refugees living in his home town of Szczucin in Poland, around 180km from the Ukrainian border.
Around 40 women and children are living in houses attached to fire stations in the town.
The refugees are mainly from Donetsk in the east of Ukraine, which is under Russian military control.
A total of around 150 refugees are staying in the small town.
Mr Luszcz, who has been living in Northern Ireland for 17 years and whose wife Rosemary is from Co Donegal, said he was moved to help after visiting his home town a fortnight ago.
"I just had an idea. The people in our club have been absolutely fantastic," he said.
He added: "I thought it would be a good idea to make their (the refugees') lives a little bit easier.
"They can use the money for shopping or to buy something special for the kids. The worse thing is sitting there with no hope."
Mr Luszcz's wife and children Isabella and Anthony are supportive of the fundraising drive.
"Isabella was up last night making cupcakes for the tournament," he said.
He said he is proud of how Polish people have welcomed refugees.
"It's fantastic," he said. "Everybody wants to help. They have a big heart.
"Almost 2.4 million of Ukrainians came to Poland."
He said Poland has had strong historic links with Ukraine.
"A lot of Ukrainian people speak Polish," he said.
"The Ukrainian language is not too different to Polish. You do not need a lot of translation to understand it."
Mr Luszcz said he has been left "broken-hearted" by the war.
"We will never be the same," he said.
"This morning on television I saw a seven-year-old boy looking at his old house where he lived with his mother. There was no house. Everything was destroyed."
Club chairman Maurice Roberts said several dozen people took part in the fundraising tournament yesterday.
"We're taking donations from members and non-members," he said.
"We'd like to reach £1,000," he said. "People who haven't been able to enter (the tournament) have been donating. We've also been doing quite well with selling raffle tickets.
"I'd be happy with £1,000. If we do better than that then it would be good."
Mr Roberts later said the club managed to gather more than £2,500.
Anyone who wants to donate to the fundraiser can email the club on info@cavehilltennis.com
