Harrogate volunteers trying to ship donations to help Ukrainian refugees are to make a second attempt to send the goods this week.
Most of the donations were handed in by Harrogate residents to Sowa Polish Shop on Bower Road and Claro Court Business Centre.
Volunteers Joanna Papros, Adam Goldsmith and Kinga Goldsmith packed the donations last week. They were then taken in four vans to Halifax, where they were due to be moved on for shipping to refugees in Poland.
But the donations were turned away because the depot couldn’t cope with the volume of goods being moved on.
It meant the volunteers had to quickly come up with a Plan B. Over the weekend, they managed to find a new unit to store the donations and a Ukrainian man living in Harrogate who agreed to help with shipping.
Mr Goldsmith said:
“We thought it would be done and dusted, but when our drivers got there they said there were piles of donations outside and we just knew we couldn’t leave things out in the rain.
“I’m not even counting the hours we’ve spent organising this. It is what it is. I’m just grateful we’ve found another route for the donations.”
Read more:
- WATCH: Harrogate residents prepare to ship donations to Ukrainian refugees
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Roman Kot, a local businessman with export experience, is the man helping with the shipping. He moved to the UK 10 years ago but still has family in Ukraine and some friends are fighting for the country.
Mr Kot said:
“They’re all still afraid — one of my cousins has said he’s going to get on a bus to try escape today. He’s got young kids so it’s just not safe.
“I’m Ukrainian. It’s in my blood, I can’t go over there and fight with them so hopefully this will still help them.
“Most people couldn’t see themselves in the military but so many are signing up, including friends. They want to fight for their freedom, they are determined not to live under Putin’s rule.”
Mr Kot has organised for 26 pallets worth of donations to be driven to Grimsby where they will then be shipped to Poland and distributed to Ukrainian refugees.
He added:
WATCH: Harrogate residents prepare to ship donations to Ukrainian refugees“There is a problem with bottleneck transport on the border because so many people are trying to send stuff out. We’re really hoping to get it shipped by the end of the week.”
A group of Harrogate residents are working hard to get tonnes of donations ready to ship to Poland to help Ukranian refugees.
Kinga Goldsmith, Adam Goldsmith and Joanna Papros started collecting donations of clothes and toiletries at Ms Papros’ Sowa Polish shop on Bower Road.
She said the response was “overwhelming” and the team quickly had to find a space big enough to store all the donated supplies. They have since been storing the donations in a unit at Claro Business Centre.
Clothes, toiletries, nappies and torches are the most requested items for refugees.
As Polish nationals, Ms Goldsmith and Ms Papros have heard from friends of the number of people trying to cross the border for safety. They wanted to help and are grateful to the people of Harrogate for getting behind them.
The donations are due to be driven to Halifax tonight and then later on will be shipped to Poland.
Ms Papros said:
“The people in Harrogate and around have always been so supportive, it’s not a surprise we’ve had such a response. There’s no question we just have to help.”
The group said they’re monitoring the situation and in contact with people on the ground, they said if the need is there they will launch another appeal for donations.
Volunteers sorting through donations. Photograph: Joanna Papros
The Harrogate district is responding to war in Ukraine by setting up various schemes to help those affected.
If you know of an initiative to provide help or support run by a person, charity, church, community group or business, let us know by calling the newsroom on 01423276197 or by emailing us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.
6.36pm: Ex-Ripon student’s video shows huge queues leaving Ukraine
Former Ripon Grammar School student Lewis Edwards has sent this video showing the huge queue of traffic at the Ukraine border waiting to get into Slovakia.
He and his partner Tanya Bogdanovska have managed to escape Ukraine and plan to set up a refugee shelter in Slovakia.
You can read more about their situation here and contribute to their gofundme page, which has now raised more than £4,000, here.
6pm: Ripon MP Julian Smith praises Shell decision
Skipton and Ripon Conservative MP has tweeted his support of a decision by Shell to abandon its joint ventures with Russian energy giant Gazprom.
Good decision by @Shell – hopefully they will be able to get further UKG support for their various projects focused on UK energy security and net zero https://t.co/E7k90qagyP
— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) February 28, 2022
5.39pm: Hampsthwaite Church taking donations
St Thomas a Becket Church in Hampsthwaite is open for donations from 10am until 4pm until noon on Thursday when anything collected will be shipped to Poland.
Church member Jud Charlesworth offered to take in donations for those who can’t get to Harrogate’s Sowa Polish Shop after seeing their campaign on Facebook.
Since posting just yesterday the church has been inundated with donations; but the drive now has access to a storage unit so can continue to take items.
The church has asked that items be left in the baptistry area just by the main entrance.
4.58pm: Andrew Jones MP signs letter calling for ‘fullest possible support’ for refugees
Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative MP Andrew Jones has issued a statement calling for as much support as possible for Ukrainian refugees.
Mr Jones said in a statement, which can be read in full here:
“The international community has come together to support Ukraine. Significant and growing sanctions have been imposed. I strongly agree with this. Sanctions are not consequence-free for the nations imposing them. Prices will rise here; our markets will suffer; there will be other consequences. But it is the right thing to do and we must hold fast to our resolve.
“And now, most importantly, we have to protect and support those fleeing this violence. Help has been provided to Ukraine directly, and to neighbouring countries to help with the influx of refugees they are facing and more Ukrainians with family members now able to bring them here. But we can and should go further.
“Today I have co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the fullest possible support for Ukrainian refugees. The letter says:
‘We urge the UK government to provide as much support as possible to our European partners who are currently the first safe havens for Ukrainian refugees, namely Poland, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. We also hope our Ministers will seek a flexible and pragmatic approach to those Ukrainians wishing to seek temporary refuge in the UK until it is safe to return to their lives in their home country.‘
‘The United Kingdom cannot flag or fail, our message must be clear: Ukrainian victims of war seeking refuge are welcome.‘”
2.46pm: Harrogate to host 24-hour vigil tomorrow
A 24-hour vigil will begin at the war memorial in Harrogate tomorrow to show support with Ukraine in its war with Russia.
The vigil, which has been organised by Christopher and Lindis Percy, will start at 10am.
Further details are available here.
12.49pm: Ex-Ripon student’s gofundme page raises £3,400 so far
Former Ripon Grammar School student Lewis Edwards, 33, and Tanya Bogdanovska, 30, (pictured) hope to cross the border from Ukraine to Slovakia today and set up a shelter to help fellow refugees.
A gofundme page set up by Mr Edwards’ family has generated £3,400 so far.
You can read more here.
12.00pm: Two houses full of donations in Boroughbridge
Some of the donated items.
A Boroughbridge activist has teamed up with a local homeless shelter to collect donations for victims of the Ukraine invasion.
Laura Hutton, who runs the Facebook page Boroughbridge Chatter, has encouraged people to contact her on the page to arrange to send items. She said the emphasis was on essential items, such as baby items and pet food.
She said the response so far had been overwhelming, with two houses full of donations.
Ms Hutton said:
“Social media can bring a lot of hatred at times but people really rally around when help is needed. I want to thank everyone as I’m amazed by their generosity.”
Ms Hutton usually works alongside Sally Umpleby and Nik Noble in Boroughbridge’s shelter for vulnerable citizens. They collect food bank donations and make gift packages for those in need at Christmas.
11.36am: Sowa Polish shop overwhelmed by donations
Some of the donations.
A Polish shop in Harrogate has been overwhelmed with donations after encouraging people to give items for Ukrainian refugees.
Joanna Papros, from Sowa Polish shop, posted online on Saturday asking for people to drop off donations and has since received a huge response.
She has asked people to temporarily halt donations until it finds somewhere to store items, which will be sent to Poland for refugees arriving in the country.
Ms Papros told the Stray Ferret;
“I only expected a small response but people have been dropping off items from all over the county.”
While they have no storage to collect further items right now, the shop owners hope to get storage in the wider area and open donations back up.