Let's all hope Esar gets home safely and is quickly reunited with his family. Thanks again for your overwhelming support, I'm sure he'll never forget Edinburgh and the many compassionate people who live here. <3

[we think we had his name the wrong way round] Esar was overjoyed to hear how 90 Edinburgh locals, many of whom have passed him by regularly, have come together to raise such a nice donation to help him home and to hopefully help out his family a bit when he's home. Thank you all so much, I was totally blown away by the rate at which you guys responded. I think we hit the £150 mark after just 15 mins!!! An awesome example of community spirit and a crucial flicker of light in what has been a very dark winter.

Hi everyone! I have just waved Esar goodbye for a final time. His test was successful + negative yesterday so fingers crossed he's all set to fly out tomorrow and get back to his family! After a bit of Google Translate wrestling we managed to get a bit more of his background out. He has three young children and a wife, and is planning to spend all his time with them once he's back - as in he's had enough of Edinburgh's freezing cold January and February's!