A group of Consett fundraisers are heading to Poland later this month to see for themselves the difference donations are making to Ukrainian families displaced by war.
The team, led by mum of three and county councillor Kathryn Rooney, will volunteer at a refugee camp in Wroclaw, which has received donations directly from the County Durham former steel town. Kathryn, who started collecting for Ukraine at the beginning of March, has so far sent 14 full articulated lorries of clothing, kitchenware and toiletries to Poland, with the last four going to the camp in Wroclaw.
And now the seven, who are funding the trip themselves, are appealing for money so they can buy food and underwear for people in the camp while they are in Poland.
Read more: First day at school for Ukrainian teens now safe in Rowlands Gill
"We've been told the people in the camp are desperate for these two things, so it makes sense to buy them while we are there as Poland is cheaper than the UK and we won't have to pay for transport," said Kathryn, who was moved to help after seeing stories about the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the news.
Horrified by what she saw, she asked on Facebook if friends and family wanted to donate, which snowballed into a major operation which has taken over St Mary's Church Hall, in Blackhill, near Consett, for the past two months. Dozens of local people answered the call for volunteers to help sort of the donations for packing into the articulated trucks ready for the journeys, first to Ukraine and later to the border with Poland.
The seven who are making the journey to Poland had not met each other before they started the collections, but bonded over a joint desire to do whatever they could to help people displaced from their homes, families and possessions.
"I will be travelling with Justine Harrison, Josie Fairless, Annette Walton, Katherine Hillier, Jayne Lofthouse and Chris McCabe to Poland, where we will be volunteering in the refugee camp for four days," said Kathryn, 51, who is a Lib-Dem councillor for Consett North ward. "I am a hairdresser by trade, so I will be taking my scissors and offering haircuts, which I believe the people living in the camp are very pleased about, as some have not had a haircut for weeks."
Although donations are still coming in to the church hall, Kathryn says the focus has turned to cash for the moment, to enable the volunteers to buy what is needed when they get to Poland. "We are sending two more vans of donations in the next week or so, and after that, we'll have to decided what to do as the church needs the hall back for the Jubilee celebrations," said Kathryn.
Kathryn, a youth worker, says she is overwhelmed by the support she had had from the whole town and still can't believe the response she has had from one Facebook post. "I was watching the news and, like everyone else, just felt I had to do something. I thought I might try to get a few things together, and it has just snowballed from there into something massive. But the need is still there and we want to do whatever we can."
Donations for Ukraine can be made by one of the following methods:
- Online via Facebook. The link to the fundraiser can be found here.
- Paypal. Email address: KathrynRooney@msn.com
- Bank Transfer: Sort code: 11-02-53 Account no 01175790
- Cash or cheques payable to Kathryn Rooney - please drop off at St Mary's Church Hall, Blackhill, Consett, DH8 8LP
Read next:
