Ukrainian baker raises more than £25,000 for his homeland with sale

A fundraising sale organised by a Ukrainian baker to help those caught up in the conflict in his homeland has raised at least £25,000.

Hundreds of people queued around the block to buy cakes, buns and other baked treats from the Deanston Bakery in the Shawlands area of Glasgow on Sunday.

Yuriy Kachak organised the fundraising initiative as he felt “helpless” when news of the Russian invasion unfolded and decided to use his skills to do what he could to help people affected.

Some people queued for more than two hours on Sunday to buy treats such as cinnamon buns from a selection of goods baked by Mr Kachak and his team, alongside homebakes donated by local people.

The sale drew crowds of customers (Lucinda Cameron/PA)

Raffle tickets with prizes donated by local businesses were also on sale, and there was live music to entertain people as they waited.

All proceeds raised on the day will go to help those affected by the war in Ukraine.

Mr Kachak said on Monday that he had not been expecting such a big turnout.

He said: “It was very good, great. I was absolutely surprised, I could not believe it.”

The bakery team thanked everyone for their support in a post on Instagram on Sunday night, writing: “So far . . . together, we’ve raised £25,000.

“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us this last week and everyone who came along today.”

Yuriy Kachak runs the Deanston Bakery in Shawlands, Glasgow (Lucinda Cameron/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Lucinda Cameron

Earlier they said: “What a day. Thank you so much to every single person who came along to support the bake sale today and for all the messages of support.”

The posts drew praise on social media with comments including “Absolutely incredible. Just shows how important you guys are to our community and how we all stand with you” and “so heartwarming to see such an amazing turnout”.

Mr Kachak, who is from the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine, has lived in the UK for 19 years and moved to Scotland four years ago.

He runs the popular Deanston Bakery with his wife Svetlana, who is from Latvia, and his mother and brother also work there.

Speaking earlier in the week, Mr Kachak told the PA news agency: “I felt a bit helpless when it all started so I thought that there’s a lot of things I can’t do but this is a thing I can do, I can help people out.”

He added: “All 100% of sales will be going to Ukraine.

“It’s not about us as a business, it’s about people getting together and raising funds to help those who need it.”