Ukrainian crisis: Good sorts rally to Indie's call to support our appeal for aid for women and children refugees
Individuals and businesses in Bishop's Stortford have responded in droves to the Indie's Ukrainian refugee aid appeal.
Our North Street newspaper office has been transformed into an aid depot as streams of donors have turned up over the last eight days laden with items for some of the hundreds of thousands of women and children fleeing the murderous, invading Russian armed forces.
Our front reception area and empty rooms upstairs have been turned into sorting and storage areas for thousands of items of clothing (which are no longer needed), toiletries, toothbrushes and toothpastes, sanitary products, nappies and toilet paper. We have also received over £450 in cash donations.
The community response has been so phenomenal that we are issuing daily pleas on our Facebook page for volunteers to turn up to receive and sort the donations.
These have included three Ukrainian women living in Stortford who wait anxiously every day for news of their families in their homeland: Anastasia Delaney, Tanya Karbovska – both of whom featured in last week's Indie – and Elena Ignatieva, whose twin brother is a surgeon in the central city of Kropivnitsky, 190 miles (300km) south-east of Kyiv.
Last Tuesday (Mar 1) – five days after Russian forces invaded their eastern European neighbour – we launched our appeal in support of Uttlesford charity Felsted Aid for Deprived Children, aka UK-Aid, which has been supporting Ukrainian families in need since 2001. Its primary purpose is to help sick and underprivileged children, especially those still suffering from the devastating effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Its volunteers regularly deliver 12 tonnes of donations, driving them 1,700 miles across Europe and into Ukraine over four days.
Originally it planned to send two lorries laden with aid to Moldova, as its usual supply line to Ukraine has been shut down. Such has been the response to its appeal that it is now sending five lorries.
Businesses have responded to our call, with Waitrose and Coopers of Stortford sending staff to the Indie office to sort donations and also to help load a van that Felsted Aid sent last Thursday afternoon (Mar 3) to take away the first consignment. A second van run will take place on Thursday (Mar 10). We will be accepting donations until Friday March 18 and the Felsted Aid convoy will set off from its warehouse in Leaden Roding on Thursday March 24.
Staff at law firm Nockolds and estate agent Mullucks are holding in-office collections for our appeal, and staff at the Indie's baby and toddler shop neighbour JoJo Maman Bébé and at The Dentist in South Street donated items.
Danielle Thomas, owner of South Street Pantry, dropped off two large bags of assorted items, on top of her staff donating their £320 tips from the weekend – which was match-funded by Danielle, making £640 in all – to the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal for Ukraine.
A collection in Jackson Square on Saturday and Sunday by members of Rotary Club of Bishop's Stortford and Satellite Rotary Club yielded £3,550.
On Saturday (Mar 12) at 6pm, pupils of Latvian piano and violin teacher Natalia Varkentin, a member of Bishop's Stortford Sinfonia, will be performing a fundraising concert at All Saints' Church, Hockerill, to support aid organisations in Ukraine. Afterwards there will be a licensed bar and a collection of donations.
While we are no longer accepting clothing – at Felsted Aid's request – we are accepting the following new, good-quality items:
- women's and children's underwear
- towels
- shower gels (not soap)
- shampoo and conditioner
- toothbrushes and toothpaste
- sanitary products
- nappies
- toilet paper
You can drop off items at the Indie office at 12 North Street in Bishop's Stortford (CM23 2LQ) weekdays from 9am to 5.30pm.
MAKE A CASH DONATION
Each aid trip to Ukraine usually costs Felsted Aid at least £3,000 and it is in urgent need of funds for transport. The easiest way to donate is via bank transfer.
- bank name - Santander
- account name - Felsted Aid for Deprived Children
- account number - 71315484
- sort code - 09-01-53.
- please use reference 'Moldova'
If you are a UK taxpayer, please remember to Gift Aid as this increases your donation by 25% at no cost to yourself.
For more details visit uk-aid.org, call 07884 426551 or email felstedaid@hotmail.com.
