Our charity, Rokpa Trust, was set up by Tibetan doctor, Akong Tulku Rinpoche, in 1980 after he left his homeland of Tibet as a refugee and settled in Scotland. He went on to establish many projects under the Rokpa banner, one of the most significant being ROKPA International humanitarian charity.

After Russian forces invaded Ukraine in the first major war in Europe since 1945 it seemed only fitting that when the term “refugee” began to take on such an important aspect in the emerging conflict, our charity should be there to help – after all, Rokpa’s translation is “Help Where Help is Needed”. And KSD Highlands, Rokpa’s most northerly UK branch, developed into KSD Highlands for Ukraine.

Initially, Highlands for Ukraine started sending essential aid to the refugee shelters in Poland via the Polish Red Cross, then went on to take it right into Ukraine itself.

When our Ukrainian friends began to arrive in the Highlands – the vast majority housed in hotels with no host families to support them, Highlands for Ukraine developed into a two-pronged project.

Now we not only continue to collect essentials to support the Ukrainian civilians caught up in the conflict but also provide lots of important services to allow our Ukrainian guests to feel comfortable here in the Highlands until they are able to return to their homeland.

If you would like to help us by supporting our efforts, either here in the Highlands or in Ukraine, please feel free to click on the donate button below.

You can contact us at 4 Strothers Lane, Inverness, IV1 1LR – please check opening times before visiting
Phone us on 01456 459375 – unmanned at present but please leave a message and we will return your call
Message us on our Facebook page 
Email us at info@highlands.samye.org