A JustGiving page set up by charity York City of Sanctuary to help Afghan refugees in Selby buy clothes raised more than £500 in 24 hours.

The page was set up by Rebecca Russell, the charity's communications manager and trustee, a few days ago.

And she admits that she was astonished and delighted by how quickly people responded.

"York people have been amazing!" she said.

York Press: The community rallied to help refugees fleeing from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

She said the plan is to give the families vouchers, so that they can choose clothes and other items to suit themselves, rather than having to wear second-hand donated items that may not fit or suit them.

Rebecca set up the page after seeing a list drawn up by children from two Afghan families who have been put up in a Selby hotel.

The list included things like 'my mum needs a jacket, my dad needs a pair of socks', Rebecca said.

She said her charity felt it was important the refugees - who fled their own country often with little more than what they stood up in - were given the chance to choose their own clothing.

"They have been through a really tough time, and they are still in a very unsettling situation," she said.

The charity's JustGiving page has now raised more than £730, out of a target of £1500.

"One hundred per cent of the money will go to the families," Rebecca said.

York Press: Afghan refugees arriving into Heathrow airport from Afghanistan (Dominic Lipinski/PA) (PA Wire)

As revealed in November, York itself is expected to take in at least 38 refugees from Afghanistan under the government's resettlement scheme.

In all, 20,000 Afghan refugees - many of them the families of interpreters or others who worked with British forces in their own country before the Taliban took power - are due to be resettled in the UK over the next five years.

York City of Sanctuary will be meeting soon with the council, Migration Yorkshire and RAY (Refugee Action York) to discuss the latest situation on refugees coming to the city, Rebecca said.

In 2016 York, which is designated a ‘City of sanctuary’, welcomed 15 families – 80 people altogether – from war-torn Syria.

More than 20 years ago, meanwhile, in 1999, the city also hosted Kosovo Albanian refugees fleeing the Balkan war.

The Syrian families are said to have settled well in York. “They were able to get jobs, they pay their taxes, their children are growing up here and will be part of the next generation,” Rebecca told The Press last year. “Those Syrian families are still here, living quietly and happily in York.”

Like them, the Afghan refugees coming to the city are expected to be put up in private rented accommodation, not council houses.

To donate York City of Sanctuary's JustGiving page in support of the Afghan refugees in Selby, visit york.cityofsanctuary.org/just-giving