An Airdrie woman’s heartfelt plea for baby boxes to send to assist refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine has received an “overwhelming” response with hundreds of donations flooding in from across Scotland in just three days.
Jackie Crawford originally intended to collect items to hand to charity – but with the project’s Facebook group rapidly growing to more than 4000 members, there are now up to 400 boxes being collected to go to organisations working in Poland and Moldova.
With donations pouring in throughout Lanarkshire and from across Scotland, the grassroots group is now looking for help from drivers who can transport some of the many boxes to their donated storage space in Glasgow ahead of the charities’ planned lorry pick-up this weekend.
Jackie had the idea of sending baby boxes – which are issued to all expectant parents in Scotland and contain essentials including a mattress allowing it to be used as a cot – to provide a safe place for refugee children to sleep as well as filling them with vital clothes, toiletries and supplies.
Initially hoping to be able to fill 50 with the help of social media assistance, she was quickly “inundated” with donations and soon found herself trying to arrange the logistics of collection and transport as the grassroots project continues to grow at pace.
She said: “I was seeing all these pictures of babies being carried in their parents’ arms and not having any place to sleep; the Scottish baby boxes have mattresses so they can be used as cots and many are pristine or have only been used for a few months.
“The box itself is one of the most beneficial things to this drive; and then the philosophy is the same, to fill them with warm clothes and essentials like nappies and for everyone to get equal contents.
“I’d posted on Facebook on Sunday asking for boxes and by Monday morning there were hundreds of messages from people wanting to help, donations filling up living rooms and houses all over Scotland and people who’d never met before all working together.
“Everything has happened really fast; it’s a real grassroots project and I think everyone wants to be involved to focus their effort on doing something to help rather than than watching TV and feeling horrified.”
Cairnhill resident Jackie, who will become a grandmother in August, was moved to set up the appeal after seeing news coverage of the invasion including the birth of tiny baby Mia in a subway station as the conflict began – saying: “I thought it was heartbreaking and just wanted to do something.”
With storage and transport quickly becoming priorities as the number of donations soared, the newly-formed group co-ordinating the boxes have linked with charities working with refugees at the Ukrainian borders with Moldova and Poland, while the Forge in Glasgow has lent storage space ahead of this weekend’s truck departure.
Organisers are now looking for drivers who can take a car-load of boxes to the central point, with those able to assist invited to get in touch through the growing “Scottish preloved baby box for Ukraine” group on Facebook.
Jackie said: “This has all come from new mums who have young children; and that’s also one of the reasons we need help with transporting things into Glasgow.
“All the boxes packed with so much care and emotion – I just imagine all these young mums across Scotland giving these gorgeous things that they love, and the faces of the people opening them up to know that somebody thought enough to put that together for them.
“We’re also sending things like toiletries, baby slings, hygiene items, flasks, first aid supplies and whatever is most urgent for people arriving at the borders, freezing and hungry.”
She added: “It’s all happened so quickly and we now have local businesses looking to help by collecting donations or getting involved. I’ve never done anything like this before, but people have just been so affected by what’s happening just now.
“This is a grassroots project which has started in Airdrie and Coatbridge; it’s heartwarming and something people can feel proud about.
“It’s humbling to see the kindness of people – it’s just breathtaking to see how many want to help and that they’re taking the time to think about what’s needed and what they can do.”
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