The founder of a Hackney-based group aiding Ukrainian refugees in Poland has expressed her gratitude to the “lovely community” for supporting the charity initiative.
Beautine Wester, who started the Help Ukraine project, said that members of the local community, including pharmacists, dentists and doctors had come forward to assist Ukrainian refugees.
She said that pharmacists, for example, had offered discounts on their products to support the effort.
People of different nationalities have volunteered, including Ukrainians, Poles and Russians.
But Wester was keen to emphasise that they do not want clothes donations.
“We learned that lesson during [the Afghan refugee crisis],” she said, when they received “tons and tons of clothes, people were just cleaning out their houses.”
Instead, they are asking for medical supplies such as first aid kits, paracetamol and antiseptics, as well as baby supplies such as nappies and baby milk because “some mothers were unable to breastfeed their children.”
“Mothers are not worried about clothes, they just want to feed their kids,” said Wester.
They have also asked for torches and yoga mats to help people in bomb shelters and tube stations.
She said that food donations are the “most urgent,” and has asked for donations of fruit and protein bars.
Wester is concerned that the delivery of their donations to Ukraine may be disrupted, as the Russian soldiers are being “difficult,” and not always allowing lorries carrying donations to enter occupied areas.
Help Ukraine, which is collecting donations at Clapton Church and via their Justgiving page, is working alongside the E5 Baby and Children Bank. They work with refugees, survivors of domestic abuse and women who are victims of trafficking to ensure that they have essential items such as food and baby equipment.
Katy Beale, a volunteer who runs E5 Baby and Children Bank’s social media and communication team, said, “we put the call out on social media to our community, and just like with the Afghan Appeal… the community stepped up to support and brought lots of donations to the church for us to sort and distribute.”
“We are always so impressed by how quickly the local Hackney community responds to our requests and want to thank everyone who has donated so far.”
