Gloagburn sunflower trail a reminder of home for grateful Ukrainian family who found sanctuary in Perthshire

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A family from Ukraine, who have found sanctuary in Strathearn, had a taste of home recently when they visited the sunflowers at Gloagburn.They were thrilled to see their country’s national flower - the sunflower - in such numbers.Husband and wife Tolek and Daria, their daughter Sofia and Daria’s mum Olena have been settling into Fowlis Wester with help from their sponsor Lucy Tod and Strathearn Welcome.When Daria, Sofia and Olena left Ukraine on March 5, ahead of Tolek, they didn’t know where they would end up.

They just wanted to escape the bombs.Daria (30) did all she could to ensure Sofia was not affected by the war or the sound of bombs even when they were fleeing their home town - Severodonetsk.It took them four days to get to the western region of Ukraine.Daria explained: “It was very difficult.

I didn’t explain to Sofia what was happening. I just said it is very strong rain.“I did all that I could so that she didn’t feel the war or get depressed.“We left with Sofia’s godmother and her husband.

We heard a lot of bombing so we went to the next basement to wait.“When it was silent for five minutes we quickly went to the car and just drove across town. “It was very dangerous.“We moved from town to town.