A BOOK of poetry and short stories celebrating Ukraine and contributed to by Hampshire writers has managed to raise over £300 for charity.

Hope for Ukraine, released on June 18 and edited by Tim Saunders, contains work from more than 40 writers, 12 of which are based in Hampshire.

At time of writing, Hope for Ukraine has sold more than 60 copies, raising £325.

All proceeds from the sale of Hope for Ukraine are being donated to the Sunflower of Peace Foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to helping Ukrainians affected by the invasion.

Andover based writer M.J. White, who contributed the story “Protecting Literature”, said he thought it is “great” that the book has managed to raise so much for charity.

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He said: “It’s for a fantastic cause, and it’s a great achievement what we’ve done so far.”

Andover poet Jilly Bowling, who contributed the poem “The man with the birds nest beard” said that it is “absolutely fantastic” that the book has raised so much.

She continued: “To say that (Tim) has only had it online for a couple of weeks, that’s just out of the park, that’s just brilliant.

“And it’s for a great cause as well.”

Basingstoke-based Arron Williams, who wrote the short stories “A promise of fish” and “When the Daves go away” for Hope for Ukraine, agreed with M.J. and Jilly, saying: “It’s nice to be part of a project that is for charity.”

The three writers were all approached by Tim for the project and were given the themes of hope and freedom for their contributions.

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Arron said that he found the themes to be an interesting challenge, as they are different from the sort of fiction he usually writes.

He said: “I mainly write, and this is why I wanted to write for this, I mainly write horror and tragedy, which don’t really align with the stories that this book wanted.”

M.J. agreed with Arron, saying: “I’m always looking to contribute and do different things from the usual genre I write which tends to be horror or dystopian fiction.

“So, it was nice to write something in a different field.”

Hope for Ukraine is available for purchase from Amazon in the UK, as well as The Netherlands, Germany, France, Canada, and Australia.

The book is available as an eBook, as well as in paperback and hardback formats.

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