Beckham hands over social channels to Ukrainian doctor helping refugee mums to give birth - after donating £1m to emergency appeal

The move comes after he and his wife, Victoria, donated £1m to the charity UNICEF for its emergency work in the war-torn country. The two have a £6m converted barn in Great Tew as their UK country retreat.

David Beckham has more than 74m followers on his Instagram channel.

In a video explaining his account handover and asking people to donate to UNICEF's work he said: “Today I’m handing over my social channels to Iryna, the Head of the Regional Perinatal Centre in Kharkiv, Ukraine where she is helping mothers give birth.

"Head over to my (Instagram) stories to learn more about the amazing work Iryna and health workers like her are doing to save lives in Ukraine. Please give what you can to support @UNICEF and people like Iryna using the donation link in my bio.”

His £1m donation to UNICEF’s Ukraine Emergency Appeal is another move to support the charity. He became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2005, having previously supported the charity’s work for children while playing at Manchester United.

His new donation will be targeted at UNICEF’s emergency work in war-torn Ukraine. In February 2015, UNICEF and David launched 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund to mark David’s tenth year as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

A spokesman for the charity told the Banbury Guardian: “UNICEF is incredibly grateful for David Beckham and Victoria Beckham’s support for Ukraine. All funds raised will go to UNICEF’s Ukraine emergency appeal.

“As conflict continues to escalate in Ukraine, millions of children and their families are in danger. The whole child population of Ukraine, 7.5 million children, is now at risk as the conflict continues to escalate. With explosions in major cities across the country and thousands of families being forced to flee their homes, UNICEF has called for an immediate ceasefire.

“Homes, schools, water supplies and hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. Children have been separated from their families and hundreds of thousands of people have been left without safe water, electricity or water. Explosives including landmines are a daily threat to children’s lives.

”More than a million people have now fled Ukraine, with the number expected to climb to five million. We are working round the clock to keep families safe.

"We are helping to provide families with access to clean water and healthy food. We are delivering lifesaving supplies to support families who have been forced to flee and are working closely with local health facilities to ensure they have the vital supplies needed. We are helping to make sure that child protection services continue and we are working with our partners and the UNHCR to assess the refugee situation across neighbouring countries.”

In neighbouring countries UNICEF is delivering Blue Dot safe spaces with our partners, which will provide care and support, information to families seeking refuge, psychosocial support, water and sanitation supplies, safe spaces for mothers and children, protection for unaccompanied and separated children and more.