***UPDATE – posted: 5pm on 01/04/2022***

Short update:

In the near future, Maria and I will be delivering aid directly to Ukraine. All the items we are sourcing have been specifically asked for by people directly on the frontline of this conflict. To make this aid trip happen, we are looking for an additional £4000 in donations to buy the thousands of items of aid. If you can find it in your hearts to support us in this important moment, we and the people of Ukraine will be forever grateful.

All the best, Alex and Maria

Longer update:

Dear Friends,

Maria and I apologise for our delay in providing an update in the last couple weeks – unfortunately we’ve both (some could say at the worst moment) been quite ill. Fortunately, I was only under the weather for a few days, though it did affect Maria for a couple weeks – but we are both on the mend!

In recent times, we’ve been focusing our efforts on something very important. Namely, ensuring a close family member of Maria’s, who is part of the territorial defence unit in Kyiv, has adequate aid to ensure himself, his team, and the civilians he is assisting on a daily basis have enough to get by and keep as safe as possible.

Now to the first important part.

We will be doing a supply run in the very near future and loading a vehicle full of aid (please note, all the aid we are bringing has personally been asked for by people in Ukraine, nothing we will provide is unwanted.) The aid we will bring is made up of thousands of items, including tourniquets, first aid kits, toothbrushes, thermals, helmets, torches, multivitamins, towels, hemostatic drugs, bandages, gloves, and sand-bags (minus the sand of course), to name just a few. It is all non-lethal aid that will be delivered directly to Ukraine.

Now to the second important part.

As we’ve said on many occasions, we are completely blown away by the support many of you have already given us. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to provide accommodation to about 60 people (some within 48 hours of the war breaking out) and help hundreds if not thousands more through other aid.

BUT – to complete the journey and aid run we described above, we need more donations and therefore are looking to raise an additional £4000. I know this is an enormous amount to ask, but we can assure you these funds will all go directly into supplying aid for people at the forefront of this war.

Any amount helps hugely and with your support, we know we can make this substantial aid run a success.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and Слава Україні! ♥️🇺🇦

All the best,

Alex and Maria

***UPDATE – posted: 11.45am on 20/03/2022***

Dear generous donors,

Thank you once again for all the support you’ve provided to us so far.

A few days ago, Maria and I returned to the UK. Although we aren’t currently in Poland, our support for those affected by this war certainly hasn’t stopped and your donations are continuing to be used to help many great causes.

We came back for several reasons. Firstly, we have sorted longer term housing for Maria’s close family in Poland, with some family members soon expected in the UK meaning it is beneficial for us to be here to get them settled. Second, in the last week or so, the rise of websites such as https://www.shelter4ua.com/ua and https://www.ukrainetakeshelter.com/ have been a brilliant tool to connect refugees with free accommodation across the world. This, coupled with the fact large international charities (the Red Cross as one example) have massively expanded operations in the region, means the initial work we were doing (within the first 2 days of the invasion) to help refugees get into private accommodation in safer countries can now be done far more cost-efficiently through charities and civil society at large. And finally, we (as full-time students and workers) had commitments back in the UK that we couldn’t get out of.

We expect to be back in Eastern Europe very soon - likely once some of Maria’s family are settled in England.

In recent times, we have focused the donations we’ve received on small organisations and individuals, mostly in Western Ukraine who are housing, feeding and helping internally displaced Ukrainians. Thanks to all of your donations, we’ve directly supported over 100 hundred, and indirectly supported, thousands of women, children and men who have had their lives turned upside down because of this egregious war.

Thank you once again for all your help, and always, Слава Україні! ♥️🇺🇦

All the best,

Alex and Maria

***UPDATE - posted: 3.40pm on 11/03/2022***

Maria and I are currently on the ground in Poland helping Ukrainian refugees. We are both overwhelmed and incredibly thankful for all your support.

Initially, we set up this fundraiser and put what we thought was an ambitious £2500 target to help Maria’s family and a few other refugees we know through mutual contacts that needed assistance.

Thanks to your generous help, that initial mission has changed and expanded immensely. The amount of support we have been able to give, and the number of people we’ve been able to help has skyrocketed thanks to your donations.

In a little over one weeks, we’ve been able to personally provide accommodation to roughly 40 people (including many children), coordinated accommodation for dozens more, and provided aid that will help hundreds.

This is just some of what we have been able to do over the last week:

- Rent an Airbnb one hour from the Polish border for 10 people, including many children for a month

- Rent an Airbnb in Krakow for two women and child for a month

- Gave five hundred pounds to provide thermals for refugees sheltering in Lviv

- Paid for a hotel in Warsaw for a woman and 3 young kids who have fled from Kyiv for two nights

- Book accommodation in Warsaw for two women and one child for two weeks

- Rented accomodation for four women and one child in Warsaw

- Donated several hundred to an under-resourced group helping on the ground in Ukraine

- Booked another hotel for three women and two children in Gdansk

- Coordinated accommodation (which was pre-paid for by another generous donor), covered transportation costs, and provide money for food for a mother and infant who will be staying near Przemyśl for 2 weeks

- Help 2 people get on the buses from Lviv-Poland and coordinate accommodation for over a dozen people still in Ukraine

- Rented an Airbnb for 16 nights for 3 members of Maria's family and sorted their longer-term accommodation in Poland

- And much more support is being planned as I write this now.

Given the scarcity of accommodation in Poland at the moment, this has taken a lot of work to coordinate and we are continuously thankful for your support.

As mentioned in the update below, although we're unbelievably grateful that we've surpassed the target amount, donations are still very much welcome and appreciated. We continue to get dozens of requests every day from refugees and to put it simply, further donations mean more refugees can be helped. Thank you all so much ♥️🇺🇦

***INITIAL TEXT, posted: 9pm on 02/03/2022***

Dear friends,

My name is Alexander Hammond, and together with my Ukrainian girlfriend, Maria Chaplia, we have driven from the UK to Poland. We are providing free accommodation, food, and transport for both Maria's family and other Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war. Right now, we have managed to acquire a five-bedroom Airbnb for the next 16 days in the south of Krakow. Of course, this is a temporary solution to ensure those fleeing can get to safety until further plans can be made.

In the first instance, we are seeking £700 to help us with the costs associated with this house, transportation for trips to and from the border (which range between 2-12 hour drives), and food for the refugees we currently have living with us. While this may seem like a modest amount, we have already personally spent or given well over £1000 on supporting refugees. As two people in our mid-20s who are full-time students who work to support ourselves, our savings are, regrettably, fast being depleted - especially as time goes on. In two weeks, once it becomes clearer if we can bring loved ones back to the UK, or if alternative longer-term accommodation needs to be found elsewhere in Europe, we will let our community know and revise the fundraising goal.

For the remainder of the funds we hope to raise, we will use them to cover renting short-term stays, or other costs associated with helping more Ukrainian refugees in our network. Every day Maria is getting requests from refugees, usually in Poland, and others still stuck in Ukraine for humanitarian aid. Given her connections and our temporary base in Poland, we are uniquely situated to help those on the ground today. In simple terms, the more money that can be raised, the more people we can provide safe and comfortable living conditions to, along with plenty of food to keep their bellies full.

Thanks a lot for your kind generosity and continued support.

Love,

Alex and Maria