Since March 2022 a group of individuals and organisations based in Peterborough, Stamford, Sheffield and Dronfield have been working with Ukrainian refugees in Gliwice, southern Poland to help Ukrainian communities in Poland and Ukraine.

The team made its 8th trip to Poland in mid-March, its largest yet, taking 6 tonnes of supplies in four vans. We had such an overwhelming amount of donations from local people and organisations that we subsequently sent another 12 pallets of food and medical supplies on a commercial lorry to Poland.

In total over the last 14 months, the team has

1. Purchased and had delivered 37 generators for use by churches, schools, orphanages, charities and cafes across Ukraine

2. Delivered over 30 tonnes of donated food supplies, including rice, pasta, tinned food to villages close to the Russian border in Sumy oblast and across southern Ukraine. Videos that can be found on the group’s You Tube site https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy0QCmIALTCX5T4c_VbgzwGtIZBER1pao show the supplies being delivered to these communities.

3. Delivered 2 tonnes of general medical supplies, such as bandages, sutures, surgical gowns and gloves directly to the Kyiv Heart Institute

4. Purchased specialist medical equipment for the Kyiv Heart Institute, particularly 15 heart valves and over 600 sutures for use in heart surgery

5. Purchased flak jackets and helmets to protect humanitarian aid workers who are helping get our donations to front line communities

6. Provided financial support for a humanitarian aid team for four months (April – August 2023), providing funds to purchase fuel and additional supplies, such as bread, to be delivered to communities around Bakhmut and Lyman and fridges and microwaves to the flood devastated villages around Kherson

7. Supported a charity for the deaf in Odesa, buying head torches, power packs and hi-vis ribbons to help them through the winter

8. Delivered c 1000 Christmas and Easter gift boxes for Ukrainian refugee children in Poland and in Rivne, Kostopil, Odesa, Kyrvy Rik, Chernivtsi, Kyiv and Karkhiv and Sumy Oblasts.

We are now planning two further deliveries of food and medical supplies in October and December. We need to raise more money to fund these trips and to purchase additional supplies, particular basic medical and sanitary products. If you can help at all, please donate or get in touch to set up a collection point for donations of supplies.

richard@athene-communications.co.uk

Helping Our Ukrainian Friends