An inspirational nine-year-old girl has raised thousands to help her fellow Ukrainians under attack.
The war hits close to home for Anna Kirk, from Chorleywood, as her mother is Ukrainian and her family members suffer from the turmoil.
To do her bit, she raised £5,000 for Action Aid by running 10km through Chorleywood Common last weekend to supply people with water, food, protection and trauma care.
She said: “My mum is Ukrainian and her family live in Hostomel near Kyiv. A lot of the town has been destroyed and is still under constant attack.
“Some of my cousins were able to leave the town and move their young children to safer places near the Ukrainian borders, but my auntie stayed and is hiding and can no longer leave home.”
The charitable child said her aunt cannot escape Ukraine as the Russian army “are not allowing people to leave their homes”.
She added: “Those who do are being killed or captured. There is no mobile communication, no internet, no gas, no electricity, no running water and food is increasingly scarce.”
Miss Kirk has been training her stamina while attending swimming lessons at William Penn Leisure Centre.
But she hasn’t ruled other opportunities to help fundraise even more money.
Her mother, Tanya, said: “Anna has been amazing. We’re raising money to do our bit and help people who are suffering over in Ukraine. Anna is fully aware that there is a war going on and she wanted to be able to do something to help.
“It took Anna around two hours to finish the 10k run. She had done a lot of running in the week build-up as training which helped her."
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